Aspiring To Greatness
by SirLordWhAtEvEr
Summary: Set at beginning of Fifth Year. Harry takes measures to defeat Voldemort in a possibly Novel way. Hard to explain without giving too much away but you should read this. I did and I liked it. It may well be a sort of H/Hr/L/NT ish. Ooh and review
1. Epiphanies, amongst other things

New story, yay. I had this idea and just went with it. Enjoy.

Oh, and 'Harry Potter and so forth' is not mine. Scouts honour. I wasn't a scout but my brother was. He'll vouch for me, I'm sure. Personally I never liked the uniform but I did show up at the scout hut now and again to watch Jurassic Park or take part in the Scalectrix Le Mans 24 Hours race they had once. I'm rambling now so I'll just let you read the story.

Not Mine!

-/-

Harry stepped through the front door to 12 Grimauld Place. He had just been escorted by broom to a park somewhere in London and had watched a house appear from nowhere. Oddly enough, he hadn't acted surprised by any of the events of the night. Instead he seemed to be distracted with a hard determination. The only reaction he had really had was glancing at Tonks quite often. She had called him on it, expecting a blush and a stammered apology from what information she had been given. Instead he had stared at a point that seemed to be just behind her eyes. Then he had started to mutter rapidly to himself. She didn't quite know how to react to that.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley called out after Harry had taken only a few steps inside. "You're so thin! Those muggles have been underfeeding you again, haven't they? I'll fix that up in no time. I'll put a nice roast on…" Harry endured her bone crushing hug and ramblings with the same detachment he had shown before. He interrupted her monologue with a simple question.

"Where's Hermione?"

Molly Weasley frowned and let him loose from her arms. "Well, Ginny is upstairs in their room…" She started uncertainly.

"I asked where Hermione was." Harry said flatly. "Never mind, I'll find her myself." He moved past Mrs. Weasley and helped Tonks up after she tripped on the troll leg as he made his way upstairs. Mrs. Weasley huffed and fumed indignantly at the behaviour of one of her sons.

"Harry!" Three people called out together. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting on their beds, talking about the upcoming year and trying to guess whether the next DADA teacher would be better or worse than the last one. The Weasley twins had set up a game sort of like 'Play Your Cards Right' but with less Bruce Forsyth and more shameful displays of teaching.

Harry had interrupted their discussion by loudly pushing the door open and dragging his heavy trunk across the floor. "Hi guys. It's really great to see you. Didn't hear much from you over the summer so what's up with you guys?"

"Well…" Ron started

"You see…" Ginny continued.

"The thing is…" Hermione added.

"That's great. Just great…" He paused in his unpacking of the Trunks and looked at the three of them. "Oh, I already know about the whole no letters rule and I forgive you. It's all water under the bridge. I blame Dumbledore and all that…So what have you been up to?"

Hermione was more confident and full in her answer this time. "Mostly we just sat around talking, trying to listen to the Order meetings or loosing at wizarding chess."

"I was winning!" Ron shouted with a mixture of pride and indignity.

"Well most of us were loosing then." Ginny put in. "So what have you been up to, Harry?" She asked whilst fluttering her eyelashes. Harry tilted his head at her for a second before muttering something. Then…

"That's right!" he shouted suddenly. "Hermione. I need to talk with you in private. So, uh, you two. Could you leave and do something else, somewhere else, for a while? Please."

The two youngest Weasley's looked affronted and vocalized this feeling. "Look, mate, you can't come in here during our conversation and ask us to leave. I mean, how would you feel if we did that to you? Just say what you…"

"You're right. How rude. Me and Hermione will leave and you two can stay where you are." Harry said quickly with a little more volume than was necessary. "C'mon, 'Mione."

"Harry, wait…" Hermione tried to protest but was soon dragged out of the room and down the corridor, leaving two Weasleys confused as to how they should feel. Did they get what they wanted? Or had Harry cheated them of their main goal by seemingly giving them what they wanted? In the time it took for them to come to a full decision that they wanted to hear what Harry had to say, Harry had finished saying it. Time it, if you like.

"What's all this about, Harry?" Hermione rounded on him in the bedroom he had pulled her to. She had her hands on her hips, using a no nonsense tone in true Hermione form.

"I had an Epiphany this Summer, 'Mione. I know what I need to do."

"And what's so important and secretive that you had to tell me alone?"

"Well…" Harry paused for dramatic effect; something that was not lost on Hermione. She huffed and glared at him until he got on with it. "I'm going to become a Superhero."

Hermione was about to huff again or shout 'WHAT!?!' She didn't. Instead, she opened her mouth to say something before closing it several times in what most people would imagine a fish impression would look like. To Harry, it looked more like someone being told their bathroom sink is on fire. There is no respectable response when told something like that. And if Hermione was anything, it was respectable.

She settled on a simple one word answer. "Explain."

"The wizarding world looks up to me as something I can never truly aspire to. They hold me in godlike proportions, when they aren't crucifying me. I realised that I am doomed to fail them because of this. Unless…"

"You become god-like." Hermione was born a Muggle. A Muggle with a solid interest in all literature. She had read every book in the library and then she had moved on to the comics. She hated herself for the conclusion she came to but she had to admit, Harry made sense. The closest thing the modern world had seen to Gods were the Superheroes in comics and Saturday morning cartoons.

And Harry planned to become one. She could see his logic, clear as day, but she also had to put her level, cool, head into the equation. They lived in a world where the impossible was made possible. Sure, he could easily step out onto the streets of London and stop a bank robbery or a crime ring. He would be labeled as an armed and dangerous, possibly delusional, vigilante. A Superhero.

But in the magical world, He would just be another person facing enemies with the same powers. He might be more powerful but he would not be raised on a plinth for that.

"You need an edge…" She said it quietly as she came to the realisation. Harry brightened up.

"You'll help me?" He said, hopefully.

"Yes." She smiled at his enthusiasm and was caught of guard by the hug he pulled her into. He had never started a single hug with anyone. She hugged him back with all she could. "I'll help you every step of the way."

"Great. We'll start tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow? We still have time today. I can search for…" Hermione said she was in this for good and she never did anything half hearted. She would bury herself in books to find everything she could that might help. It was only half eight at night. They still had a good three hours in her opinion.

She realized why they would wait, though, when two redheads burst through the door. "Hey Harry, mate." Ron had to pause to catch his breath. "You don't just take someone like that. And why keep us out of it? If you need to tell Hermione, you can tell us too." Ginny was more in shape then her brother so was not panting when she came through the door. Her vision was not slightly blurred and obstructed by fatigue and over-exertion. She glared at Hermione when she saw how close the two of them were standing.

Hermione had just noticed too that Harry still had an arm around her waist and she could feel the muscle in his arms and chest. She blushed slightly and stepped away a little as Ron looked back up from his knees. He drew in a big breath before looking at Harry expectantly.

"So what's this about? Why are you so manic?" He asked. Harry smiled and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. It's a Muggle thing. And since Hermione is our expert on all things… everywhere, I asked her." Harry explained without actually revealing anything to his first friend.

"What's this Muggle thing, then?" Ginny, the more aware and inquisitive of the two Weasleys present, asked. "Our dad's a Muggle expert so maybe we can help too." Harry didn't pause or hesitate in his answer

"I was asking her about the possible application and addition of the X-gene into Human bodies." Hermione cursed Harry for his choice of scientific words. She had to stop herself from giggling foolishly and making the youngest redheads suspicious. It did have the desired effect though and both of the pureblood wizards looked confused.

"Err… I'm not to sure about that subject but I'm a good listener and a quick learner. I'd love to lend a hand with anything you're doing…" To be fair, Ginny made the best of a situation she was loosing control of.

"That jeans and sciencey mumbo-jumbo the muggles have is too boring for me. I'll pass, if it's all the same but be sure to tell me if you need a cop muter or something else lifted or moved. No offense Harry but you don't look suited to the physical side of life." Ron said in his trademark tactful yet unthinking and unintentionally hurtful way of talking to others.

"Thanks for the reassurance, Ron." Harry said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "But right now, I'm going to bed. I'm knackered."

Harry left the room, followed by Ron. Ginny stopped Hermione on the way out. "Remember what I said last year."

Hermione scowled at the girl. "I remember. I won't try anything. You might want to act soon. I can't be blamed if he comes to his senses for once and sees someone he wants."

"I know what I'm doing. I've already set things up for the Cho relationship to fail. Harry'll think he's hopeless and that's when I'll come in and show him what I can do for him. I'll be the boyfriend of the boy-who-lived and the whole world will know me." Ginny slipped into a monologue, forgetting or not caring that Hermione was there.

She walked out with a glazed look in her eyes. Hermione glared after her all the way out the door before sighing pathetically and slumping down on a bed. She rued the day that Ginny Weasley got blackmail material over her. She didn't feel like sleeping in the same room as her so she just fell asleep on the bed in this room, a few small tears falling over the bridge of her nose for lost opportunities.

-/-

The morning came quickly after a dreamless night and the next thing Hermione knew; she was being shaken gently awake by a topless and slightly sweaty Harry Potter. At first she thought it was a very nice dream but she soon realized that dream Harry would not have had to endure the torment of the Dursleys. Topless Harry clearly showed scars and so this was real.

"What do you want?"

Harry took a moment to appreciate Hermione's remarkable eloquent-ness even when sleepy. "It's half six. You feel up to a little Brainstorming?"

The first thing that struck Hermione was the word Brainstorming. One of her favourite words as it allowed her to share and adapt her ideas with other people to further understand or explore a subject. She hadn't done a brainstorm since enrolling at Hogwarts so this was a welcome chance for her.

The second thing to strike her was that Harry was fully serious about this. He had woken up at what should have been an ungodly hour for him. It looked like he had been for a run so he was probably up even earlier. This proved his devotion to his choice. She smiled and nodded her head. And she was fully serious too.

"Let's go to the Library. We can set up a table and a very large sheet of parchment." Hermione rattled off instructions to build her perfect brainstorming environment. Harry smiled and made it all happen. She didn't notice the underage magic. The ministry didn't either. The Black family wards were remarkable things. Soon, Harry and Hermione were perched on the edge of bean bags around a large sheet of parchment on a hard floor.

Superhero was written in the middle with a felt tip pen. Hermione always kept a full Muggle stationary kit with her. They were much more convenient than the bog-standard wizarding quill.

Sub-points were written around the centre with names like 'Powers', 'name' and 'costume'

"Right. Most important is powers." Hermione started.

"I think the image is more important in the long run. Powers will get me noticed, sure. But the image will affect the reactions from the first notice and all from there on. Colours, style, actions, voice. The public is what makes a superhero strong."

"Oh my god. That was incredibly insightful, Mr. Potter." Hermione grinned.

"I've had a great role-model to rub off on me." Harry replied also grinning like an idiot.

"Alright so image. To start, we have too big choices. The colourful, extravagant style in your costume will win the heart of the general public but your other choice is a darker, scarier costume. This will strike fear into your enemies but could alienate the public." Hermione chewed on the end of her pen.

"We will be facing an opponent with no remorse. These people have committed sick and twisted acts in public knowledge. They've set up their fear base and I think it's best to fight it by giving them fear. With Fudge in charge, and the Prophet printing what it is, I imagine I will definitely alienate the public. But not everyone sees through the prophet. I want to set an example of what will happen to those who seek to harm others."

"How noble…" Hermione muttered, good naturedly. "So we're going down the foreboding, dark, brooding hero look."

They didn't get much further as they heard Mrs. Weasley coming down the stairs. They just had enough time to roll up the parchment and hide it in the many bookcases and sit back down with a random book before she came through the door.

"What are you two doing in here?" Mrs. Weasley asked pleasantly with a false smile.

"Reading." Harry said, decisively.

"Reading what?"

"Light Counters for Dark Curses by Olivia Turncoat." Hermione explained.

That was a good, respectable sounding title in Mrs. Weasleys views on the world so she just nodded her head and said "Well, put the book away, you can go and wake up Ron, Hermione. And you can wake up Ginny, Harry. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Harry and Hermione made their way upstairs. "We need to find somewhere and sometime more private for this. Presuming we don't want people to know." Hermione raised the point half way upstairs.

"We'll look for somewhere today and I think it's probably best if we keep this to ourselves for as long as possible, yeah?"

"Agreed. Now I don't fancy seeing Ron half naked so you can go wake him up. I'll wake Ginny." Hermione proposed when they got to the rooms they stayed in.

"Definitely." Harry agreed. "You ever get the feeling that Mrs. Weasley is trying to push us on to them?" He asked unsurely.

"Sometimes…" Harry nodded grimly and went to go wake up Ron. He didn't hear Hermione whisper "Yes." Before she too went to wake up a Weasley. The day was spent trying to get out from the watchful gaze of everyone else in order to find a suitable place to develop their plan. Their efforts proved fruitless as when Ginny and Ron weren't trying to corral them into a game of chess or exploding snap, Mrs. Weasley was getting them to clean the house or Sirius was talking with Harry about everything he felt important. They had entertained the idea of explaining their idea to Sirius. It was his house so he would most likely know of some secluded or password protected room in the house.

But they didn't know where his loyalties ultimately lay. It was Hermione that pointed this out and Harry had to agree. Sure, he was Harry's godfather but Dumbledore had helped him as a fugitive for the last year. Sirius would owe him for that. The real question was which side Sirius would take. Until they knew for sure, they decided they couldn't trust him. Harry would be evaluating him over the next few days, though.

Harry had decided that he definitely did not want Dumbledore to know. He was just as coddling as Mrs. Weasley in a misguided, more forceful way. He would try to guilt Harry out of it with every trick he could find. Especially when he found out that Harry wasn't really planning to just stun his enemies.

They had thought they would get some time in the evening, at least, in which to explore more ideas but Mrs. Weasley had been very forceful in her convictions that Harry had a big day tomorrow and he needed lots of rest in order to be ready for it.

Hermione had tried to go with him to the Ministry so they could talk more but she was stopped by Mrs. Weasley who handed her a mop and a bucket of cleaner before telling her to take the third floor bedrooms. She was lucky in that respect as Ron had to remove the Doxies present in the curtains in all rooms on the second floor, including the room used to store curtains.

She had managed to say a few words privately to Harry. She had surprised him and dragged him into a room before shoving a chair against the handle. It would be a while before anyone outside would figure out that it wasn't a locking charm.

"Harry. First of all, best of luck. I know you'll be fine. They've got nothing against you; just remember that." She pulled him into a hug which he returned. "And I also have to say that this is getting hopeless. We can't get any time alone while we're here. It's only a few days until we get back to Hogwarts. There'll be hundreds of opportunities then. I think Mrs. Weasley will get up even earlier from now on to intercept us. We'll be able to continue this at school and I'm just rambling now so… Good luck with the trial and I'll see you this evening."

"Thanks." Harry hugged her again and pulled the chair away and opened the door a second before Mrs. Weasley was going to go against her previous rules of cleaning and just blow the door down. "Let's go then, Mr. Weasley."

No one protested as the two of them walked out of the front door and disapparated. Hermione slipped out of the room unnoticed and flopped down on her bed, pulling about a book on Distinct magical and bloodline powers. She didn't notice a person slip into her room at first until they spoke.

"You really should make sure a room is empty before you lock yourself in it for a private conversation."

-/-

Hmm. There we go.

So was it a good idea? Bad idea? No idea? Hate Ikea?

Sorry. Anyway. As I said, this idea struck me and I tried to develop it as much as I could into a story for your enjoyment. I was watching Ironman shortly before I had this idea. Might be one or two similarities but that's it.

_Next chapter: The trial takes place, the mystery person is revealed, ideas are developed and the full effectiveness of a frying pan is discovered. Maybe._


	2. Talks and Trains, with Runes too

_Previously:_

"_Well, I'm going to become a Superhero."_

"_You really should make sure a room is empty before you lock yourself in it for a private conversation."_

_-/-  
_

And we're back. Welcome back to those who have waited and hello again to those who haven't.

If you can't remember the disclaimer it was probably because it was clouded with nostalgia. So I say again. I don't own Harry Potter.

Thinking about it, how weird would it be if J K Rowling actually used this site to write how she _really_ wanted the stories to pan out. Maybe she wanted to put Harry with Grindelwald but her Publishers forced her not to…

Story time, people!

-/-

Shortly after arriving at the Ministry, Harry had decided that the general wizarding populace was insane and full of themselves. He had met centaurs, house elves and goblins. He knew for a fact that two of the three species wouldn't even be seen dead looking at a wizard or witch like that. The third did it in a much scarier way.

He was put on a supposed show trial. Minister Fudge either wanted to make and example of what happened to those who crossed him or he wanted the Boy-Who-Lived to owe him something by bailing him out of his punishment.

Harry had been given little chance to defend himself. When he did manage to say something it was twisted to make him look even guiltier. Then Dumbledore had swept in with his usual witty good nature and had provided enough evidence to coerce over half of the Wizengamot. Harry was thankful for that but it grew into annoyance when the Headmaster wouldn't even acknowledge his existence. It wasn't that he wanted to speak to him, he just thought that if the Headmaster had gone to all the trouble of saving his arse, he could at least say hi.

But instead, Harry left with Mr. Weasley getting him to explain, as best he could, how planes stayed in the sky. He wasn't an expert on the subject but what he could remember from his Primary school science classes seemed to please Mr. Weasley. He took Mr. Weasleys hand and felt the same squashing sensation as he had before. They landed in the dark park opposite 12 Grimauld Place and quickly made their way inside. Harry was disappointed to see that the house stayed visible this time and didn't appear from nowhere like before.

A large party was held in celebration of his proven innocence. Mrs. Weasley made sure they kept in either the Kitchen or the main Living room. Hermione looked like she wanted desperately to tell Harry something but they couldn't get a moment of privacy. Everyone seemed to want to congratulate Harry many times. Ron himself had patted Harry on the back and confessed his absolute belief that Harry had always been innocent over five times. He had also challenged him to half a dozen games of wizard's chess. Harry had only accepted two.

Harry went to bed as early as he could. He had to slip past Mrs. Weasley who kept insisting he enjoy himself. She had been distracted by Sirius starting a strip tease for Remus while completely drunk. She couldn't resist laying into Sirius and she had to protect the innocent minds of her children. Harry was not the only one who used the distraction. Only a few seconds after his head hit the pillow, Hermione came through the door.

"Harry, we need to talk."

"I know. You've looked like you needed to relieve your bladder all night. And it's like a conspiracy to keep us in view. I came this close to punching Ron back there. Why couldn't he take the hint that I don't want to play chess with him just then?"

"Yes, well…" Hermione said grumpily. "It's important because, when I pulled you into that room, someone else was in there without me realising."

"Ah." Harry saw why she was so eager to talk.

"Yes, ah." Hermione went back to her fretful walking back and forth.

"Who was it?" They might be able to salvage this as long as the person wasn't the type to run straight to Dumbledore. That was a small number but Hermione might have convinced them to keep quiet.

"It's that pink haired Auror, Tonks."

"Oh, the one who tripped over the troll leg so much?" This was good; she wasn't one of the old grouches the Order had so many of. She might have heard Hermione out.

"She thinks we're dating in secret." Hermione said quickly.

"Huh?"

"She doesn't think we're planning to turn you into a superhero. She thinks we are trying to keep our intimate relationship a secret for as long as possible."

"Huh?"

Hermione sighed irritably. "Honestly Harry, I've said it as clear as possible."

"So you told her…?" Harry started; a smirk growing on his face.

"I told her nothing!" Hermione said louder than necessary. "She assumed and I decided it would be better if she only thought she knew the truth. It's probably because we kept looking for ways to be alone yesterday."

"So you let her believe that we're going out." The smirk was still there and Hermione resisted the urge to punch him. He could be so insufferable at times!

"Only to keep our secret. No other reason whatsoever. None!" She finished with a shout. Harry's smirk lessened, but only slightly.

"So what does she want to stop her from blabbing to the whole house?" Harry asked, resting his head against the back of the bed. Hermione sat with her feet crossed at the other end of the bed. "I assume you don't want everyone else to think that we're dating too."

"No. And I don't know what she wants. She said she'll think of something and tell us then."

"Not good. You practically agreed to anything there. You shouldn't agree to something unless you at least have some idea of the boundaries in which you'll have to provide."

"It was the best I could do to keep this a secret. I tried my best to stop her from talking and at least I got that much!" Hermione's voice had risen in annoyance throughout the sentence.

"Alright. I'm sorry, 'Mione." Harry pulled her into a hug as she calmed down again. "You've done so much for me so far and you've promised to do so much more. I shouldn't have snapped at you." Hermione noticed that she didn't pull away from the hug but instead swivelled around to sit on Harry's lap with his arms still around her.

Harry spoke again after a minute or so. "I thought about what you said before we left and I agree. We don't have the privacy for a full fledged idea exchange so I think we should focus on one thing. I know that I said the Image was most important but we don't have the facilities to explore that properly. I am a terrible artist so unless you have mad art skills that you never before even hinted at… We should work on my powers."

"But, time…" Hermione tried to pick a flaw somewhere in the plan.

"We don't need to write it all down yet. We can just take what time we have like now and talk about it, 'K?" Hermione nodded in reply. He made sense.

"So with powers, you need something that will set you apart. Flinging spells in a dark cloak will just get you labelled as a powerful dark wizard. That isn't what we want. We need something to make people stop and say 'Wow.' Unfortunately, all you have is your parseltongue which is more likely to make people stop and scream."

"Perhaps not. It was shortly after my epiphany that I realized something. I am amazingly proficient with Runes."

"How? You can't just suddenly become proficient without learning. It doesn't work like that. What was this epiphany you talked about before? What caused it? Was it a dream or a trance? Could this be some sort of hereditary memory transplant that runs in your family?" Hermione kept asking questions until Harry put his hand over her mouth. She looked back and up at him, glaring. He just smiled and explained, not removing his hand.

"Well, you might not believe this but I'm pretty sure it happened when my Aunt hit me round the head with a frying pan. Ow!" Hermione had bitten his hand at this point and he had been forced to let go. She used the time to breathe fresh, Harry free, air.

"What?" She shouted after her first gulp of air. "It doesn't work like that! You don't _gain_ knowledge after being hit with a… Your aunt hit you with a frying pan?" She sounded shocked and outraged with a hint of disbelief.

"Well, yeah…" Harry said quietly, ashamed of his Dursley life. "I'd dropped a few baked beans on the floor after I'd just finished mopping it so…" he trailed off and Hermione pulled him into a tight hug again, muttering 'cruel bastards' and other insults.

This was how they were found by Ron and Ginny who came up when they realised Harry and Hermione were missing. This being shortly after Sirius had been stunned and bound for his own good. Mrs. Weasley had also been stunned because she looked ready to rip Sirius' head off.

They pulled apart quickly when the door opened and evaded any potentially embarrassing or unwanted questions by proclaiming their fatigue and declaring their intentions to catch some shuteye.

Ginny and Ron looked like they wanted to ask hundreds of questions but let it rest until the morning.

Come morning, though, there was another distraction that served to prolong the time until the approaching questions. Their school letter arrived. Hermione had been made Prefect. Harry hadn't. This was both a shame and an annoyance as Harry, all modesty and arrogance aside, was obviously the best choice for prefect. Ron had got it instead which meant that Harry and Hermione would have less time to work on their 'Project'.

Ron had been surprised by his new prefect-hood as well. He managed to get out "Bloody Hell" in-between mouthfuls of breakfast. He had received no less than three 'Language, Ronald's from this action.

Harry and Hermione held a hushed conversation with as vague words as possible. Though because of this privacy measure, they didn't get very far. Harry thought they were talking about his heroic call sign, Hermione thought they were discussing his powers still and Tonks, who had been listening in, decided they were talking about sex and how far they each wanted to go.

-/-

The trip to Diagon Alley was a little sombre as a large deal of people were glaring at Harry while holding the latest issue of Potterwatch; also known as the Dailey prophet. Today, it seemed they decided he was completely delusional for what he said at the end of the third task. They also hinted that he could have performed murder at least twice before. And finally they wrapped up the inquisition by claiming that he enjoyed steeling candy from children; when he wasn't planning how to eat them, that is.

It was enough to make Harry wonder why he even wanted to save this place. He realized it wasn't for them. Sure, he planned to win them over but in reality, he never truly cared what they thought. He was doing this for two main reasons. For revenge and to protect his new family he had found in the Wizarding world.

The general wizarding populace did not fall under the family category.

Ron had gotten a new broom as a present for becoming a prefect. Harry had bought himself some new stationary and, along with Hermione, had been gradually hinting to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, their technical chaperones, that they should go into the Muggle world for a while.

They did this in such a profoundly subtle and cunning way that it made it seem like the two grown-ups ideas in the first place. So they spent an hour in the centre of London. Despite their initial intents, Harry and Hermione spent the majority of the time in clothes stores after Hermione had seen the state of the rags the Dursleys had gifted Harry with. They still managed to look in a few book stores for anything that might help. Hermione had picked up 'Superheroism for Dummies' and 'The Big Book of Superheroes' when the Weasleys weren't looking. She had remained insistent that, while they might be useless, it couldn't hurt to at least look at them.

Their shopping done, the group returned to 12 Grimauld Place where they were set, once again, to cleaning the house. Harry didn't understand why Mrs. Weasley was so insistent that the house should be clean. It didn't seem to bother Sirius any and the Weasleys would be moving back to the Burrow in a week's time.

Hermione had woken Harry up a few minutes after midnight and they moved to an unused room to talk more.

"How does this Rune thing you have, work?"

"Rune 'thing'?" Harry asked with humour in his voice. Normally Hermione would never lower herself to vague words like 'thing' or 'stuff'.

"Quiet you. I haven't figured out what to call it yet." Hermione explained grumpily. "This _aptitude_ you claim to have with Runes; how does it work?"

"Not sure. I just understand them."

"Where did you manage to see them during the summer?"

"I started writing them subconsciously. I woke up in the morning and the walls of my room were covered in Runes. I'm fairly sure that room could survive a nuclear blast." Harry explained. "And one time I just zoned out a little and woke up to find that my potions essay was written in Runes"

"Well, that's a start. But there are still lots of people who are proficient in Runes and they aren't exactly the most practical thing to use in a fight." Hermione thought it over in silence for a minute before speaking up. "So we'll have to use other items and apply the Runes beforehand. You can inscribe them consciously, right?"

"Yes. At least, I think so."

"Of course, we'll have to work on your physical fitness, close quarters combat skills and maybe you can try and become an animagus. I just know your form will be perfect for this. Dark and intimidating or a beacon of hope."

"I think I'll be a wolf."

"Really? Well that could be useful. A wolf is agile and can be quite strong. You could be stealthy depending on the colour and no doubt scary to meet on a dark night. Are you sure that's what you'll be? How do you know?"

"Just a feeling, I suppose. Being a jaguar or something would be cool though. Anyway, what do you think you'll be?"

"I don't know. I haven't really put much thought into it."

"Yes you have." Harry argued. "If you're the Hermione I know then you'll have put as much thought into everything you could. So go on…"

"I don't think I'll have a form. I can't really think of anything good for me so…"

"I believe…" Harry cut in, while pulling her onto his lap again, "That this is the point where I must inform you that you, Hermione Granger, are brilliant."

Hermione flushed at his words. "I'm not, I'm just…"

"You are and you know it. Probably. But in case you don't. I'll tell you again. You're brilliant. Smart, brave, protective… and most likely more. I can easily think of some animals that would suit your description…"

"It doesn't matter now. We're doing this for you, remember?" Harry frowned, knowing she still wasn't completely convinced.

"Fine. But once again. _Brilliant. _I can see that anymore will just annoy you so I'll let you carry on with where we started." He paused when Hermione let out a huff. "So I think I should have a sword or a big awesome axe."

"Why?"

"Intimidation of course. Someone emerging from the shadows with a huge axe will make you shit yourself."

"Harry!" Hermione admonished his language but couldn't fault his logic. "How about you use the sword of Gryffindor?"

"Too well known and iconic. People have suspected the Potters of being descendants of Gryffindor for generations. They'll guess too easily when they see it." Harry argued. "Not to mention that it's wildly impractical in a real fight. The handles too heavy and the blade is unsuitable for slicing. It's only good for stabbing thrusts. If we could find Gryffindor's fighting sword then perhaps we could mod it a little and use that."

"Gryffindor had two swords?"

"And three axes, two longbows, a crossbow, several pikes, lances and flails."

"Wow." Hermione tried to think why someone would need all those weapons.

"He was a man of war, Hermione. He most likely wanted to be prepared for any occasion." Harry answered her unasked question. They fell silent for a while.

"What about a lightsaber?" Hermione asked out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"You've been saying that a lot lately." Hermione laughed. "Think about it. Tool of the Jedi, you must have seen at least one star wars film. The Muggleborns and some half bloods would know of it. Your supposed Rune skills should be able to make at least a passing resemblance. Spell reflection wards, glowing wards, cutting and piercing rune schemes. It would be very iconic to Muggleborns, who are on the rise, but it's not easily linkable to you.

"I've seen parts of the movies but I heard more than I saw. It could work but I still want an axe. Could we have a lightaxe?"

"Why are you so fixed on having an axe?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, I just can't get the image of me wielding an axe out of my head."

"I can't see it." Hermione said flatly.

"I'll describe it to you." Harry pulled his friend a little closer and pushed his arms in front of her. "Picture the seen. You're a scoundrel, a murdering, rapist, evil thing." Hermione laughed slightly at the description. "You're walking down a dark alley, looking for your next victim. A slight breeze ruffles you neck and you turn. You see me step from the shadows, head dipped slightly, a cruel smirk on my face. Piercing green eyes cut into you from behind my overhanging fringe.

"I pull my arm to my side and raise a double bladed axe into the air with both hands. You're transfixed with fear as I take a few short steps and bring it slicing down just to the side of your neck…" Hermione shivered as his hand pushed lightly down against her shoulder.

"Alright I see your point. It's very intimidating. It's just, not many people practice axe combat nowadays and doing so would draw attention to yourself. And you would have to practice a lot to stop the weight from being a burden in fast paced combat." Hermione interjected. "And finding a teacher would be hard."

"True. I'm not saying it's a definite but I'd like to try it."

"Fine. I'll look for books in the library and see if I can't order one from a bookstore."

"Great."

"So, if we do make a lightsaber, what Runes do you think we'll need to use. And what material would be best to channel them. It would have to be durable yet have magical potential which most metals aren't. Wood would be too weak, I think, and could splinter if used too much which would make it hard to handle and could interfere with the Runes. Of course, the few metals that have magic potential turn to liquid when subjected to any form of magic so we'd have to find a solidifying ward scheme to counter that. The problem being it would also have to counter some of its own magical effects and still do what we need. Oh, what do you think Harry? Harry?"

She turned around to find he was sleeping. He had fallen asleep while she was talking. How rude! But she couldn't really blame him. She had woken him up after midnight and they had a big day tomorrow. She'd wake him up in just a second and get them both off to their proper beds. Yeah…

But she'd just rest her eyes for a second. Just a second…

-/-

She was dancing along the train station, avoiding people left and right while they tried their best to pretend she didn't exist. Harry was just ahead of her, pulling her along with him in the dance. All of a sudden, her parents stopped them and gave them their bags. They got on the plane and found their seats. Hermione sat on the bean bag opposite Harry but didn't like how it felt so she sat on his lap instead. Professor McGonagall sat opposite them and started to teach them how to turn a ball into a shawl. But Hermione had forgotten her ball. She had to go back home and get it or no one could play!

She checked both ways before crossing the road to get back to her house. But the cars kept coming past so she decided to take the elevator over the road instead. The ticket man at the top of the escalator stopped her and started to talk quietly. She strained to hear what he had to say.

"… 'Mione, wake up…" She felt her hair being pushed out of her face and opened her eyes. She got used to the light and noticed where she was. She was still in the room they had talked in last night. But she thought she was going to move them both back just after resting her eyes. She hit her head with her palm. Saying stuff like that practically jinxed her to fall asleep.

"C'mon, 'Mione." It was Harry. She was still lying on top of Harry. "We better get going. We've been called to breakfast and they'll start looking for us soon."

Hermione scrambled off of the bed and rushed out the door, yelling "I call the shower first!" Harry watched amused as the door closed and got up at a more leisurely pace. There was more than one shower in the house and they all had their own private heating charms. He'd just take the one a few doors down the hall.

The manic rush taking place when they got downstairs made them both thankful that they'd packed the night before. The twins (who had been hidden away most of the time so well that it made Harry and Hermione jealous) were actually slowing down the packing progress by sneaking pranking items into their younger sibling's trunks.

Ron had noticed several items of clothing disappearing or turning green and pink. Ginny's school supplies had been alternating frequently between actual school supplies and canaries that kept flying out of her trunk until she tied them all down with spell-o-tape, which then turned into a canary as well.

Harry was pulled away by Sirius and didn't return for another half an hour. When he finally got back, Hermione asked him where he'd been.

"Either Tonks told or people keep making assumptions. I found that Sirius actually performed the strip tease to give us an escape. I think he can be trusted, by the way. But he also gave me the talk." Harry replied.

"Oh. _The _Talk?" Harry nodded with a damaged look in his eye, "But that can't have taken half an hour."

"Then Professor Lupin found me and gave me the talk."

"Another one?" Harry nodded. "Well I suppose that could…"

"Then Professor Moody gave me the talk." Harry winced at the memory and added "He used his wooden leg as a prop."

"Oh you poor boy. You want me to wipe your memory?" Hermione struggled to keep a straight face.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes." Hermione burst into laughter. "Very much so."

-/-

Remarkably, despite all the problems associated with packing in a hurry the morning before, they made it to the train station with a few minutes to spare.

Ron and Hermione went off to the prefects meeting (much to Ron's protests that he'd rather sleep or eat) and left Harry and Ginny to be met shortly by Neville. The compartments were all full apart from one which had just one person in it. The girl inside was introduced by Ginny as 'just Loony Lovegood.'

Harry doubted somewhat the accuracy of that claim and walked in despite Ginny's protests that they should find another compartment.

"Hello, I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?"

"Oh, hello there Harry Potter. I'm Luna Lovegood, reporter for the Quibbler." The girl, Luna, looked over from the head of her paper. Harry noticed it was upside down but didn't pay it any mind.

"Nice to meet you Luna. Do you mind if my friends and I sit in here?" Harry asked politely, ignoring Ginny attempting to pull him away. For a malnourished fifteen year old, Harry was surprisingly steady.

"Feel free; just make sure to get the Humdingers off of you before you sit down. Laps are their natural prey." Harry turned to look at Neville who shrugged and Ginny who glared at him until she noticed he was looking. Then she smiled. He looked back to Luna, trying to convey his cluelessness. She obviously understood as she spoke again.

"Just stamp your feet a little. They hate the sound it makes." She supplied happy that he didn't refute it straight away. Harry did that and sat down across from her. Neville sat beside him which left Ginny to sit next to Luna. She still sat as far away from her as possible; on the other side of the compartment.

Harry started to talk with Luna and soon became introduced to the Quibbler. It took Luna the better part of twenty minutes to explain the correct angle at which to read it to avoid Paper Eating Tweys. By the time Harry managed to get it right first try, the prefect meeting had finished and Hermione and Ron had found them again.

"Stamp your feet." Harry said while still reading the Quibbler; he had found an interesting article on the ministry's involvement in the Rotfang conspiracy. Ron ignored the odd request and winced when he sat down. Hermione looked to the other for help. Neville shrugged. Ginny glared at her, even when she knew Hermione was looking, and Luna smiled encouragingly. Hermione didn't fully understand why she should stamp her feet but decided to do so anyway.

She didn't wince when she sat down. She was introduced to Luna by Harry who had finished the article and by Neville who also told her about the latest plant species he was interested in acquiring. Hermione didn't refute Luna's ideas as madness straight away because she acknowledged that Harry seemed to believe them somewhat. She did draw the line when she asked for proof and received the reply…

"There's no proof that they don't exist."

She did her best to just ignore the odd creatures and conspiracies mentioned while still trying to understand the conversation. She did surprisingly well. A short way through the train ride, Harry dropped out of the conversation suddenly and pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket. He wrote on it with a pen he'd picked up from Muggle London and folded it up before passing it to Hermione.

She took it and opened it so only she could read it. She burnt it shortly afterwards but still remembered what was written on it.

-/-

_I need a name._

And that is chapter two, I believe. The plot is moving and Harry is coming closer to his goal. This won't be an all powerful Harry. He'll have faults and enemies more powerful and so forth.

_Next Chapter: __Hogwarts is reached, a warning is given, plans are forwarded and a new DADA teacher is named among other things._


	3. First Day, with possible surprises

_Previously: _

"_I became incredibly proficient with Runes…"_

_I need a name._

_-/-  
_

Welcome back one and all. Wait, is it closer to one or closer to all. Raise your hand if you're reading this. One, two, three… Right so everyone reading this is reading this then. So welcome back all.

Enjoy this next chapter, if you would.

And for those who noticed the thinly veiled cry for help… Thank you. Your response will be rewarded in time. You'll see.

-/-

"What are those?" Harry asked. He had never noticed the skeletal horses before. He would have thought they'd be obvious. But apparently, no one else could see them. Hermione had gone so far as to blame Voldemort for trying to make him scared or insane. His scar didn't hurt though so that couldn't have been it. The answer was given by Harry's new friend, Luna.

"They're Thestrals. I see them too."

"And the others can't?" Harry asked, genuinely intrigued.

"They can only be seen by those who have seen death. The others' minds are innocent in that regard." Luna explained in her usual, far off voice. Her eyes though were staring straight into Harry's. "Don't worry, Harry. You're just as sane as me." She smiled and skipped off to a carriage, stamping her feet a few times before sitting down. Harry found himself smiling a little too though wasn't quite sure why. He had to run to get into the same carriage as his friends but he just made it to his seat before the carriage set off.

"Anyone know who the new Defense teacher is?" Harry asked to avoid any possible awkward silences.

"No idea. I hope they'll be better than Lockheart." Neville answered.

"Anything's better than Lockheart, Nev." Ron pointed out, laughing.

"Didn't any one else see the ministry notice in Diagon alley?" Hermione asked, receiving a strong no from everyone. "Well, they passed a decree that means the Ministry can appoint anyone they see fit if the Headmaster is unable to find someone suitable. So this year, we'll probably have some Ministry stooge for a teacher."

"I bet its Percy. He's got his head so far up the minister's arse that Fudge is coughing up red hairballs." Everyone winced at the imagery caused by Ginny's description. "In fact, I hope its Percy. The prat's hopeless and he deserves a Twin sized pranking for how he betrayed the family."

"Surely Dumbledore could have found someone capable of teaching, though." Harry argued.

"Doubt it." Ron replied "With the track record of our last years, _you'd_ be a better candidate for teaching Defense then any grown-up on the British Isles."

"That's not a bad idea." Harry pondered.

"Harry!" admonished Hermione. "You can't be considering boycotting the school's Defense lessons."

"I'm just saying…" Harry explained soothingly. "If the teacher is rubbish or spouts Ministry garbage and we don't learn anything from them, perhaps… we could teach ourselves. Like a study group" Hermione lightened up at the word 'study' and didn't argue against it any further. Harry added a little more just to be safe. "But only if we need it."

"Fine." Hermione crossed her arms. "I suppose I'll help too if that happens."

"And then we can all go to the Ministry and find a talking snowglobe." Luna interjected, feeling a slight bit left out of the conversation. Unfortunately, this statement effectively killed the conversation so they had to move to another one.

"So…" Ron searched for the best way to break the subject. "Do you think the Canons have got a good chance this year?" Everyone groaned in response. "What?"

-/-

The woman with about as much fashion sense as a colour blind mule stepped down from the pedestal after her Ministry approved speech. She flashed them one last, Ministry approved, smile and sat down again. Harry threw Hermione a look as Dumbledore began to subtly yet systematically destroy or undermine everything Toad lady had said. Hermione caught Harry's look and mouthed 'Lessons' at him. He sighed but reluctantly nodded. They would give her lessons a chance.

The feast was the usual display of fatty foods in large quantities. After reading the Quibbler for a few hours, Harry was thinking it could be some sort of plot involving the House elves to fatten up children. But for what purpose. Were they to be eaten? Was it a plot to kill of the British wizards by making them sexually unattractive to each other? Or perhaps Fudge had designed it so the next generation of Wizards was too out of shape to oppose him. But then Dumbledore would have to be in on it too.

Of course he could just have been over thinking the entire situation and the real truth was that Wizards haven't caught on to the whole 'healthy eating makes you healthy' craze that's been the rage the last century or so in the Muggle world. He decided not to give it too much thought and instead, avoid the plot by eating healthily himself. He noticed there was only one bowl of vegetables on the entire Gryffindor table. Luckily it was quite close so he didn't have to walk far to get it.

The feast soon ended and Hermione and Ron had to stay behind to gather up all the first years. He walked at a leisurely pace and was almost last to the common room. The first year group was still three or four floors down. He reached the Fat Lady and realized that he didn't know the password. Who was supposed to tell him? Professor McGonagall didn't try to tell anyone and the other prefects were all inside the common room by now.

While waiting for Hermione and Ron, who would no doubt know the answer, he decided to try his luck with a few of the more obvious passwords.

"Courage?"

"No."

"Honour?"

"No."

"Manual Dexterity?" The last one wasn't really obvious but he was getting surprisingly desperate. His knowledge of words that associated with Gryffindor was quite small.

"No."

He tried more unlikely ones. "Snape sucks balls?"

"Mr. Potter, The staff do not take kindly to insults." The fat lady said sharply.

"So you know I'm Harry Potter. Why can't you let me in, then?"

The portrait had the decency to look embarrassed. "Person who looks like Mr. Potter, the staff do not take kindly to insults."

"How do you know who to tell for my punishment, though?" Harry sniped, feeling a little vindictive.

"Well…"

"Oh, wait. I have an idea for the password… Paint Thinner." He smiled evilly at the painting which paled dramatically.

"Harry James Potter. Do not tell me you were threatening the Portrait of the Fat Lady with Paint Thinner!" Harry winced and turned around. Hermione was standing there, hands on hips, in front of a group of nine wide eyed first years.

"Er… ok I won't?" He replied. Hermione looked confused for a second before huffing, realizing he had beaten her with a technical flaw.

"Why are you here anyway? No loitering, remember?" Hermione had always enforced the rules on Harry and Ron before but now she actually had the authority to do it.

"I was never told the password."

"It was written on your Hogwarts letter." Ron interjected from the back of the group. "At the bottom. Ron was never normally the type to read things all the way through but when he had seen the prefect badge he had read his entire letter twelve times.

"Oh. Well I must have missed it." Harry said, scratching the back of his neck and looking embarrassed. "Could you?" He asked Hermione. She sighed and stepped up to the Portrait.

"Now listen Carefully. The password is 'Honour above all'. You must say this to this portrait here. The Fat Lady." She repeated the password and the group filed in. Harry went first to stop the Portrait shutting him outside out of spite. He stretched out on a sofa while Hermione explained some important and basic school procedures to the children with Ron's helpful insights added in now and again.

Finally, the first years, and Ron, all headed up to bed leaving just Harry and Hermione in the common room.

"Ok. It's taken a while but you said you needed a name, right?"

"Yes."

"Well I disagree." Hermione stated plainly.

"Why?"

"You don't need one. At least, not yet. You can base a name off of your image when you finally get one. And more than likely, the press or the public will make a name for you. Their helpful like that." Hermione added with a smile. But if you want to think up generic names then be my guest. I just don't think you'll need it yet. You want it to sound _just_ right."

"Bah. You're right. But just to spite you, I will think up bland and generic names for my own amusement." Harry finished with a smile. "But for now, I am tired. The Shadow Striker must rest for the day has been long. See ya' tomorrow 'Mione."

Hermione laughed as Harry drew his wizarding robes around him like a cape and jumped from on top of the sofa, rolling to a stop on the floor. He waved one last time before running dramatically upstairs.

Hermione sighed when he disappeared from view. There were so many things she wanted to tell Harry now. But she couldn't. Because in one moment of stupidity she had lost her future chances and opened the door to that conniving bitch. She should have seen it in her from the start but _no_. _Perfect_ _shy little_ Ginny wasn't capable of _anything_ like that. If only she had known.

-/-

On the other side of the castle, Ginny Weasley hadn't returned to her common room. She was visiting one of her old friends. Luna Lovegood. Luna was in a corridor a little way away from the Ravenclaw common room. Ginny walked up behind her.

"Hello Luna." Ginny said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, hello there Ginevra." Luna replied. Ginny gritted her teeth into an even sweeter smile. She hated people calling her by her full name. She also hated people talking about things she couldn't see. "You have a few Nargles floating around your head. You should wear radishes. They don't like the taste."

"Er… Sure. So Luna… Harry seemed to like you…"

"Oh, he did? Well that's good. He seems like the type of person I'd want as a friend. He seems nice." Luna answered dreamily.

"Uhuh… yeah. But I think I should be the one to tell you… You're not going to interact with him anymore." Her face fell serious.

"What do you mean, Ginevra?"

"You are going to stay away from Harry." Ginny said, getting steadily louder. "He is mine."

"Really? I would have thought that if he was, you two would show it. And if he was, you wouldn't be so insecure about other girls talking to him." Luna said matter-of-factly. "But then I guess I wouldn't know, really."

"No. You wouldn't." Ginny snapped nastily. "Just stay away from Harry, if you know what's good for you." With that, Ginny Weasley turned and stalked off into the shadows. Luna watched her go with a slightly confused looking face.

"What a strange girl Ginevra has grown up into." She said before skipping off back to the common room. If she was lucky, she could convince a few first years to properly brush their toes before the Apiskies got to them.

-/-

"Alright guys, I'm ready." Ron ran over to the corner of the common room where Harry and Hermione were sitting. "You didn't have to wait, really."

"It's fine." Harry replied.

"Yeah." Hermione agreed. "It gave us a bit of time to talk."

Ron looked between the two of them for a bit before shrugging and leading the way out of the common room. They talked about their classes for the day on the way down. They all had Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts in the morning. Hermione had Arithmancy while Ron and Harry had Divination. They then all had Transfiguration to end the day.

"I just bet Snape will claim I haven't done my Potions assignment properly." Ron groused.

"That's probably because you haven't anyway." Hermione scolded him slightly.

"Though he would say it anyway, you're right." Harry aided Ron. "I doubt he'll like mine."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Didn't get the time to rewrite it." He said, referring to their past conversation.

"Oh."

"Well I'm not going to think about that greasy haired git when I can be thinking of food. There's a spot next to Neville with some sausages in front of it. C'mon." Ron led the trio to the table and started eating straight from the sausage plate. Hermione reacted in the usual fashion, disgusted, and Harry just ignored Ron's eating habits in favour of staring in near horror at the person approaching the Gryffindor table. Hermione saw where he was looking and just had time to mutter "oh no." before…

"Wotcher Harry, Hermione." It was Tonks. "How are you two _just friends_ doing?" Tonks asked with a wink that didn't know the meaning of subtlety. The surrounding Gryffindors, and those Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs with good hearing, found out that '_Thunk_' was the sound Harry's head made when it hits a table.

"Why are you here, Tonks?" Harry's voice was muffled as he was still looking at his lap.

"I'm on protection duty." Tonks supplied happily. "With your status elevated to public risk, some uppity purebloods felt their children needed protection from you. So I'm your guard. You won't even know I'm here. I'll be sure to give you time _alone_."

"I'm not hungry. I'll just head to Potions early." Harry said at last. The entirety of Gryffindor, who incidentally had nothing better to do than listen in on his conversations, gasped in shock. Even Tonks looked shocked at the lengths he would go to in order to escape. But by the time she came back to herself, Harry was already leaving the great hall. She didn't follow him in case the close proximity to her old classroom brought back repressed memories of her lessons with Snape.

Harry sighed as he didn't hear anyone following him. He couldn't help but think that potions just might be better than listening to Tonks' teasings. Maybe.

-/-

He was wrong, of course.

"Potter." Snape sneered. "Would you mind telling the class at which point you thought it would be wise to write half of your potions assignment in Runes?"

"I… thought you might enjoy a bit of variety for a change?" Harry said hopefully.

"Well you thought wrong. Fifty points from Gryffindor for incorrect format. Draco Malfoy snickered behind him. Harry heard this and turned to face him.

"What are you, Mutley the dog?" He asked half sarcastically. Malfoy didn't get the reference but a few Muggleborns did and after the lesson, started spreading the word to call Malfoy 'Mutley' and Snape 'Dick Dastardly'. Harry lost a further twenty points for name calling.

"Don't worry." Hermione said soothingly. "I'm sure defense will be better."

-/-

"Alright, fine." Hermione admitted, following Harry as he stormed out at the end of the Defense lesson. She's a Ministry bigot and we aren't going to learn anything of use. We can study ourselves in the Library or a used classroom. You do know that this is going to cut time off from our project, right?"

"I can't be everywhere." Harry said. "I'd like my friends to be able to hold their own. And I'd like them to be able to get jobs when they leave here. You know practically every job requires at least an Owl in Defense, right?"

"Yes and fine. Just don't come crying to me when you aren't prepared for the giant space robot attacking metropolis." Hermione said, smiling to show that she agreed with what he said.

"Meh. Superman will cover for, I'm sure." Harry replied. "We'll tell Ron, Ginny and Neville at Lunch. And Luna, too."

"Luna?" Hermione questioned.

"The interesting girl on the train." Harry shrugged.

"I know who she is, but why?" Hermione clarified

"She seems nice enough. Fun to talk to. I'd like to get to know her more." Harry shrugged again.

"Fair enough. I suppose her different view on things could be… Helpful." Hermione put up the best smile she could.

"Hermione, I'm not saying you have to believe what she does. Just try to get to know her. I think she knows more than she lets on about the world." Harry said, stopping to face her. "Besides. Until I was eleven, I didn't think Dragons were real."

Hermione smiled properly this time. "I see your point."

"Of course, I also didn't believe in France but that doesn't matter." Harry muttered to himself just loud enough for Hermione to hear. She didn't question this odd notion any further as they had reached the Great Hall. They sat with Neville who had just caught up to them.

"Where's Ron?" Neville asked.

"Dunno. Hermione?"

"I think I saw Ginny outside the defense class." Hermione suggested. "Maybe she wanted to talk to him.

"Maybe." Harry said. "Oh, Neville. We're gunna have some private study sessions to make up for the Toad's lack of teaching. You in?"

"Sure. It's bad enough that she spouts ministry propaganda whenever she opens her mouth to speak, but I don't want to fail such an important Owl because she's too embarrassed to admit she doesn't even know how to hold a wand."

"Speak of the Devil" Hermione cut in when Umbridge walked in to the great hall, blinding a few students with pink in the process. She went straight to the lectern in front of the teachers table. She cleared her throat to get attention. When that didn't work she did it twice more, a little louder but with similar results. Finally she just began speaking and people soon began to listen. Her voice was enough to kill any conversation.

"I've noticed that some people still seem to carry the notion that He-who-must-not-be-named has returned. I would like to point out again that dead things stay dead. He can not be back. Beliefs that disagree are only held by lunatics and criminals. Those of you that are respectable citizens, I urge you not to listen to those who spout discontent. Ignore them at all times in case they try to convince you with subtlety. Punishment will be dealt accordingly to those who continue to act out. Thank you."

"Right, that's it." Harry stood up despite Hermione trying to pull him back.

"Harry, no."

"I'm not going to kill her. Yet. I'll just pull out a few roots is all." Harry said soothingly. Hermione just frowned but let go of him. He walked up to the end of the great hall and spoke. "Professor Umbridge, ma'am." He said, mimicking her too sweet voice. "I'd like a quick conversation."

-/-

While this was going on, at another point in the castle, Ginny had pulled Ron into an alcove.

"Ron. You like Hermione, right?"

"Er, yeah…" Ron said slowly. "She's pretty smart and she's a good friend. You know, helpful, fun. Why?"

"You want her as a girlfriend, right?" Ginny pressed

"I dunno. I hadn't really though about it much. She's with Harry though, right?"

"No! She isn't."

"Really. I thought they were." Ron said, genuinely surprised.

"That doesn't matter. You want to be with Hermione, yes?" Ginny tried again.

"No. I think those two are good together."

"They. Aren't. Dating." Ginny said forcefully.

"Well they should be. Maybe I'll hint to it to Harry or something. Thanks Gin. I'll just…" Ron began to walk off but Ginny grabbed hold of his arm.

"NO! I mean, if you want them to be together then why were you keeping them in sights all the time?" She asked, trying to salvage the problem. She made sure Hermione couldn't approach him but she couldn't stop Harry asking her out. If that happened she'd have to take drastic measures and doing so would paint her in a bad light for Harry.

"Well. First I wanted to know what Harry was really talking to Hermione about." Ron answered. "I mean, who really needs to speak that urgently and privately about clothes. But then I figured that he must have asked her out then. So then I thought. Why wouldn't they tell me? I tried to stick with them so they'd be so desperate for alone time that they'd have to tell me. Pretty clever, huh?"

"Well don't tell Harry." Ginny said quickly. "Uh… I'll… I'll tell Hermione that Harry's interested and we can see if she'll do anything. I mean, you know Harry. He's a little clueless and would probably end up embarrassing them both or scaring her away, right?"

"I guess you're right. Yeah, sure. You can tell Hermione then. I'm no good at that Girly giggling boy stuff. I'll leave it to you."

"Yeah." Ginny smiled and walked ahead of him. "Let's get to the great hall then. Don't want you to get hungry." She said sweetly.

They walked in sibling like silence until they got to the great hall. They walked in just as Harry started talking to the pink toad. The entire hall was silent so you could here exactly what was being said.

"What is it, child?" Umbridge replied. "Have you come to admit your mistake?"

"Not quite yet. I just wanted to pose a hypothetical question."

"Well…"

"Let's say you saw me kill someone. You'd tell people, correct?"

"Yes, I…"

"But I would want to stop you. But say I got there a little too late to stop you." Harry pressed on. "With no proof, it'd be your word against mine. I'd have to make people not believe you. I could do this by discrediting your name, right?"

"I suppose…"

"And I could call you a lunatic or a criminal. I could smear your name if I had the resources. Just to hide something I didn't want others to now."

"Mr. Potter. What does this have to do with anything?" Umbridge shouted.

"Nothing much. Just a hypothetical question but it might have shown some people in here just what the ministry is really up to." Harry supplied evenly before turning back to go eat with his friends. Umbridge was left speechless as her eyes turned from the retreating back of that meddlesome brat and the hundreds of shocked faces switching their gazes between her and Harry Potter.

Hermione congratulated Harry when he got back on his good handling of the situation. He smiled and then noticed Ron and Ginny had finally arrived. "Hey guys." He greeted and received similar responses. "So after that horrific lesson, we should start to have our own private study, don't you think?"

"Sure." Ginny replied.

"I dunno..." Ron complained. "More lessons after the normal ones? Not sure that that's my style."

"C'mon, Ron." Neville, of all people, badgered him. "We need this owl and just think. Harry'll be teaching us. We're bound to get an Outstanding. We could be some of the only ones to do it." It didn't look like Ron was convinced so Neville tried something else. "Girls dig smart guys. And guys who can protect them."

Both Hermione and Ginny raised an eyebrow at this but it seemed to do the trick as Ron smiled suddenly, shooting a look over his shoulder before agreeing heartily.

"I'll go ask Luna if she's interested in taking part." Harry said now that everyone had agreed.

"Loony? Why?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, no offense mate but you've only known her a day. And I'm not entirely sure she's playing with a full deck." Ron continued.

"You do realize I only knew you for less than a day and that influenced me to go to Gryffindor." Harry pointed out.

"That's different. You would have been a Gryffindor and met me anyway." Ron answered.

"Actually, the hat wanted me in Slytherin. It was what you said that made me ask for Gryffindor." The group was silent in thought until Ron spoke up.

"So you should have been in Slytherin. But because I told you they were all slimy and evil… you…" Ron paused and looked at Harry. "Huh. If you were a Slytherin, you wouldn't have met me. So it's for the best that you met me before. And I saved you from going to Slytherin. I'm a hero!" Hermione threw her head into her hands when Ron managed to reach this decision.

"If you like, Ron." Harry continued. "But the point is that sometimes all it takes is a day for a friendship to happen. Give Luna a chance. And don't call her names." He sent a meaningful look at Ginny who at least had the sense to look embarrassed. "I've been called enough to know that it hurts." The four others fell silent again as they thought it over. While they did, Harry went over to the Ravenclaw table to talk to Luna.

Cho was closer though and she stood up to greet him. "Hi, Harry." She said, smiling.

"Er, Hi… Cho. How are you?"

"I'm alright. Single now, since… you know." This struck Harry as an odd way to answer. He filed it away for later. "That's er… Well hang in there. Cedric was a great person. I'm doing alright, too. Listen, I'm gunna' go over there. I need to talk to Luna…"

"You've got to be kidding me. Loony? Why would you want to talk to her?" Cho's pitiable depressed yet forcefully happy face was replaced by a rather scarily angry one.

"I'm not going to answer that." Harry said carefully. "I'm just going to back away now." Harry took quick steps backwards and took the long way around the Ravenclaw table to get to Luna. She smiled as he stamped his feet before sitting next to her.

"So Luna." Harry looked left and right to see if anyone was listening. He found that most of the Ravenclaw table was. He sighed and tried to remember a silencing spell. Luna held up her wand first and cast a silencing ward around them. He nodded gratefully and carried on talking. "Since our newest Defense teacher doesn't teach. A couple of my friends and I were going to do some private lessons for ourselves. I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"You're asking me?" Luna asked, trying to hide her shock. "As in you actually want me there?"

"Yes… Why would I ask if I didn't?"

"Doesn't matter. Sure I'll come. Thank you for asking, Harry Potter." She stood up and dispelled the silencing ward before picking up a bread roll, splitting it roughly, putting the bigger half back on the plate and putting the other half in her right shoe. She skipped off, happily ignoring the snickers and taunts from the over students.

Harry couldn't ignore them though and vowed to do something about it. It was only expected of his new goal. Not that he wouldn't have done something anyway. And he knew just where to start, as well as a certain pair of twins he could get to do it for him. His first minor act of heroism would strike a chord painful to the ears of the deceitful and cruel.

-/-

Another chapter. That's number three. Three is the number and the number it makes is three.

Alright so it wasn't exactly his _first_ act but definitely his first since deciding to become a Superhero.

_Next chapter… might be a while I'm going to France for a week. I'll see if I can't find a computer there. No promises._


	4. Training, alongside a prank

I'm back again with another installment of this

-/-

_Previously:_

_Just a hypothetical question but it might have shown some people in here just what the ministry is really up to._

_His first minor act of heroism would strike a chord painful to the ears of the deceitful and cruel._

_-/-  
_

In London, unknown to most, there is a collection of buildings that make up Diagon Alley. The wizarding centre of Britain. By far the most impressive of these buildings is Gringotts. The Wizard's bank. Hundreds of vaults lined with rock, iron and steel. Hidden in a maze of tunnels. Protected by wards and curses. Guarded by fearsome beasts. One could not find a better place to keep their gold safe from enemies.

Unless of course they considered Goblins their enemy.

The Goblin's run the bank. They crafted the vaults, dug the tunnels, set the wards and tamed the beasts. And goblins are smart. They know where to take their gold from. They know who to target to get the most money. Deep in the wizarding bank, the king of the Goblins has learnt of a powerful artifact in one of the Vaults. The owner would notice its absence but that doesn't matter anymore. All is prepared. The Goblins are unsettled. The wizards are too sure of their superiority. It's time for another Rebellion.

The Vault is found, the Dragon subdued, the wards removed and the large steel doors are opened. Large piles of gold are scattered everywhere. The goblin king does not pay attention to them. They are his anyway. There it is. The cup of a founder. He can feel the power pulse along his arm as he holds it. Enriching his arm. He knows what he must do.

A curved blade is drawn from a decorated scabbard. A simple movement and his right hand guard is missing a head. He fills the cup to the brim with Goblin blood and brings it to his mouth. The power is strong, it's almost his. He drinks the blood and feels the effects take hold. He is the Goblin King, and the whole world will bow to him in time.

-/-

"Welcome, Harry, to Superheroism 101. For as long as it takes you will train, learn and practice to become the best superhero you can be. We've been a bit lax the last few days and I say, no more. You want to be a superhero, you have to earn it. I will be your instructor, trainer and worst nightmare."

"Aren't you supposed to be on patrol with Ron?" Harry asked Hermione after her speech ended. She scowled at him for undermining her character but her face softened as she explained.

"I've still got the time turner I used in third year."

"They let you keep it?" Harry asked. He didn't really understand why they'd give something so dangerous to a third year anyway. That wasn't to say he wasn't thankful they'd got to use it to free Sirius.

"Not exactly…" Hermione paused. "They just forgot I had it and I didn't think to remind them is all." Harry raised an eyebrow. Dumbledore wasn't the kind to just forget. So he probably had a reason to leave it with her.

"Right well. Superhero me up then. Let's get started." Harry said with a little bit of forced enthusiasm. "What's first?"

"Physical fitness and close quarters fighting. No use going into battle if you can't throw a punch when things get short range."

"Makes sense." Harry agreed.

"So we'll start by getting an idea of your current fitness level through a series of physical tests and then work from there." Hermione worked Harry through two hours of grueling torture and respiratory techniques. By the end of it, Harry was clutching a desk to stop himself from turning into a puddle on the floor.

"So, what's the diagnosis, doc? Any chance of fighting my way out of a paper bag?"

"Fighting isn't just about fitness, Harry." Hermione said with a frown. "And your magic has been keeping you at a relatively fit level. Probably some sort of overcompensation for those years at your relatives you refuse to talk about." She gave him a pointed look which he merely replied to with a raised eyebrow.

"Well then, can I technique my way out of a paper bag?" Harry asked, smirking slightly.

"No, you can't. But that's where I come in. I was a blue belt in Karate before I came to Hogwarts. I didn't carry on during the summer because the Dojo had closed down. Apparently our Sensei was dealing drugs to the older students."

"Huh." Was Harry's reply. "I don't know much about your home life, do I?"

"Pot, kettle, black." Hermione replied with a sigh. "I'll talk about mine when you open up about yours. Yours is probably more important to our project. But right now. Feat a shoulder width apart and push your heels out aim a punch at chest height."

-/-

"Oh, Ron. Have you seen Harry?" Ron had just appeared at the top of the stairs to the boys' dorm when Hermione posed the question.

"Yeah. He left quite early this morning but came back a little after I got up. He's having a shower now."

"Right, thanks. So what have you got today?"

"Double charms then divination." Ron answered with a grimace. If that old bat tells me that I'll intentionally hug a Slytherin one more time, I swear I'll ram a crystal ball up her Ouija board."

"How would that work exactly?" Neville, who had joined the pair shortly before Ron's mini-rant, asked.

"I don't know." Ron replied. "I mean, its common knowledge that Slytherins only exist on a two dimensional plane. And any attempt to view or touch both sides at once results in a cataclysmic reaction which, if left unchecked, could bring about the end of universe."

"So all you used the dictionary and thesaurus set I got for you for, is to find new ways to insult Slytherins."

"Undeniably so, my compatriot." Ron answered with a smile.

"Ah, my loyal subjects have indeed waited for me. As I knew they would." Harry descended the stairs with an air of mock regality.

"You asked me to wait, you berk!" Ron said in reply.

"True. But enough with pointless accusations." Harry waved him off with a grin. "I'm starving and they always serve hash browns on Tuesdays."

"Yes!" Ron cried. "Let's go!" Neville, Hermione and Harry followed after the already running boy down to breakfast. When they got there, Ron had taken a seat and had already piled his plate with food.

"So I was thinking Thursday evening for the extra lessons." Hermione said over the noise of Ron's eating. "We'll have to find a suitable space that isn't too conspicuous."

"I know just how to find such a place." Neville volunteered, and then blushed when the all turned to look at him. "I, I mean we, could… uh… Ask the elves. I'm pretty sure they know the castle better than Dumbledore, even."

"Good thinking, Nev." Harry replied. "But you'll have to be the one to do it, I'm afraid?"

"Er… why? What's so bad about it?" Neville asked.

"Oh nothing. You'll be fine. Just fine. It's just that in our second year, I freed a certain maniacal elf that I'd rather stay out of contact with, personally. He's helpful, sure, but his devotion is bordering on dangerous. So you'll go."

"Er, thanks?"

"No problem. If you get something good by Thursday, tell us, yeah?" Neville nodded at Harry before topic turned to more trivial matters.

"A griffon could easily beat a hippogriff in a fight!" Ron said with conviction."

"No way. Remember what that one in Hagrid's class did?" Neville countered. "It knocked Malfoy on his arse with one swipe."

"Though that was just the blond ponce so it isn't saying much." Harry added his opinion. "But I would say a hippogriff would be faster and more agile. Most griffons tend to be slow but powerful. Though, if the griffon did manage to get in a good hit, it would most likely win the battle for it. Otherwise, the hippogriff would wear it down in the end."

"Yeah." Ron agreed, staring into space as though trying to imagine the fight. "How about a Lethifold and a Dementor?"

"Hello Harry and co." The group, surprisingly showing no annoyance at being referred to as 'and co', looked up to see Luna approaching them. "Do you mind if I join you for breakfast? The invisible pink unicorn told me that it would be wise not to sit at the Ravenclaw table today and I'm afraid I don't know anyone in the other two houses."

"It's fine, Luna." Harry said, moving over slightly to make a space. Nobody else objected so she took the offered place.

"How can it be both invisible and pink?" Hermione asked after a moment of silence.

"The existence of the invisible pink unicorn is based on both faith and logic. We can not se it, therefore we know it must be invisible. We have the faith that it is pink and it's ability to be both proves it's power."

"Who's _we_?"

"The _wizards_."

"Well _I've_ never heard of it" Ron protested.

"Not you wizards." Luna replied as though explaining the sky to a child. "The other wizards."

Harry stopped any further questioning by clearing his throat. "I may not be able to speak with the invisible pink unicorn but I do get the feeling we should be looking over to the Ravenclaw table just about now."

The near entirety of the Gryffindor table still had nothing better to do than to listen in and so all looked as well. And by a non-coincidence, they all looked at the same time that Cho had started to eat a slice of toast with marmalade. With each bite she took, her hair slowly changed colour. By the end of the slice, her hair was a light purple.

A few seconds after finishing, she noticed everyone staring at her and asked, in an annoyed voice, "What?" A scared looking second year girl pointed at Cho's hair and handed her a mirror.

"I hate Purple!"

"So her hair turned purple." Hermione said flatly. "If this really is the twins then they've become a bit tame don't you think…" She trailed off as writing started to appear above Cho's head, it eventually spelled out 'I hate purple' but it didn't stop there. The writing went on. 'I'm afraid of lizards' and 'I don't like the word sausages' appeared and soon after a dozen lizards fell from nowhere and landed around her. She screamed and ran from the great hall, the writing following her, now claiming her middle name was 'Peter'.

A few dozen students were laughing, mostly the victims of Cho's bullying. Luna seemed uncharacteristically ecstatic at watching the payback against Cho. Draco Malfoy had also been laughing at someone else's misery and felt the need to take a bite of a piece of bacon on his plate in order to give him more energy to laugh.

He started to laugh again but stopped at the horrified looks his fellow Slytherins were sending him. The same initial routine was followed as with Cho. Only this time, when Draco looked in the mirror, he saw his hair had turned red. The same handwriting appeared above his head as well. 'I hate red' was followed by 'I'm afraid of Snakes' and 'I don't like people calling me Blondie or Ferret.'

All around the hall, certain people's hair changed colour before their hates and fears appeared above there heads.

"So that was it," Neville said looking around at all the coloured hair. "They singled out the bullies..."

"…And gave the victims the means to fight back." Harry finished "I'm impressed."

"You had a hand in this." It wasn't a question, but a simple statement from Hermione.

"I might have commissioned their services for a certain service to the public." Harry admitted with a smirk. "Though all I said was to get a little payback on a few bullies. I didn't expect anything of this amazing caliber. They must have taken our deal to heart."

"And here come…"

"Your heroes now." Fred and George announced themselves as the sat either side of the group; a planned movement to maximize annoyance by providing their answers in alternating surround sound. "So what did you all think…"

"…Of our first prank of the year?"

"You mean there's more?" Ron asked, his face bright with glee; possible imagining finding some snakes.

"Indeed there is…"

"…Brother, dearest."

Ron may not have actually heard the answer because his mind had come to a suitable conclusion of his previous thoughts. "Harry, can you use that parselmouth thing of yours to get us some snakes?" He had a scheming gleam in his eye as he said this that left no doubt, if there was any before, as to what he planned to do with the snakes.

"I can and I will." Harry declared with an equally evil gleam in his own, green eyes.

"And I'm pretty sure I know a spell that will give them the ability to speak English. We can teach them to sing a medley of Blondie's greatest hits." Hermione added.

"I'll go call some out of the forest this afternoon. We can see if we can find some lizards by the lake, too." Harry said, smiling at Luna, who blushed slightly and nodded.

"Thankyou." She said shyly.

-/-

Lessons passed by and Lunch showed that despite each Professor's best efforts, the colour change and the writing hadn't been removed from the marked bullies' heads. Many girlish screams, from both girls and boys, were heard in the halls as those with neon hair were subjected to all manner of things such as spiders, monsters and, in one case, a nine foot tall Easter bunny.

The Weasley twins were, obviously, interrogated for a remedy but they remained tight lipped about the counter spell. Snape had of course tried a spot of Leglimency but they had long ago figured out his trick when he always seemed to know exactly what they were planning. So they devised a special toss about defense mechanism. Snape's mental probe was passed rapidly between the Twin's connected minds until he became too dizzy to stand.

So the effects carried on. At the end of the school day, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna were sitting by the lake. Luna was tapping a glass filled with lizards while Hermione went over the third verse of 'Call me' with half a dozen snakes Harry had recruited with the promise of castle mice. Snake number three, whom Luna had named Timothy, was a little off key on the second line.

Harry, Ron and Neville, chucked a miniature Quaffle lazily between them whilst debating whether Snape and McGonagall would beat Dumbledore and Trelawney in a Wheelbarrow race.

Ginny was alternating between the occasional Quaffle throw and trying to find a five leafed clover. The Hogwarts grounds had more four leafed ones than three.

"That's it guys! You've got it!" Hermione yelled enthusiastically. Harry translated as the snakes still couldn't understand English, only speak it. "Now let's go and annoy the Ferret"

-/-

The joyful revenge continued for a fortnight where the spells faded with a final parting shot that found all the marked bullies hanging by their shoelaces above a large bowl of water in the great hall. But we aren't at that point yet.

"Welcome one and all to the first weekly extra defense lesson. Glad you could make it. Our thanks go to Neville for finding us this perfect venue." Harry sat in a high backed chair along with the others in a circle. "Tonight. We'll have a spot of fun before doing some shields and debilitating spells.

"We'll be playing a dueling game of sorts. Hermione, you may have heard of paintball?" She nodded. "It's that but with colour changing spells. The room has provided us with these special wands to shoot a twenty four hour colour change spell. Random colours, so if you don't want to spend tomorrow looking like a packet of skittles, dodge and roll, people. I will say that the most colourful person gets a chocolate frog so it's a tough choice.

They did indeed spend the next day looking like a packet of skittles but they also, as promised, learned some useful spells and dulling techniques, along with a bit of theory to help with the OWLS. Far better than Umbridge's lessons and worth the slight teasing. Even more so because the colour they seemed to be just so happened to match the hated colours of certain people.

-/-

"Front kick right. Stomach punch left." Hermione continued calling out strikes, kicks and blocks, whilst correcting slight infractions. Harry was learning fast. The room of requirement had proved to be a godsend in their training. It provided exactly what they needed for Hermione to teach Harry effectively. "Now turn with a rising head block."

"Brilliant." Hermione said after she let Harry relax. "Take a little break and we'll see how you fair against three opponents." Harry nodded and drank from a glass of water that appeared next to him before sitting down against the wall. "You've come a long way in two weeks, Harry. And your muscles are starting to develop a little already. That means you should have more of you magic at your disposal now. Because it isn't having to constantly upkeep your body.

"Yes but I feel like shit." Harry grinned

"Harry…" Hermione admonished his choice of language. "For that, Mister, there shall be no more resting today. Up and fighting, now."

At the end of her sentence, Harry was on his feet and looking at three wooden mannequins. He nodded his head to them and fell down into a simple fighting stance. The dummies followed suit and approached him. Hermione was standing to the side, watching with interest.

He had to make a quick decision of whether to back into a wall so he had less sides open to attack or to let them encircle him in an open space to leave more room for escape. He had an idea and moved towards a wall before subtly placing his foot on it. He spun around took another step up and pushed himself up and over the heads of the three mannequins, he landed on his feet before using the momentum to launch a high spinning kick into the side of the middle one's head.

It crumpled to the floor just as the other two turned and attacked. Harry dodged and blocked several strikes before taking the offensive and driving a quick flurry towards the dummy on his right. As one dummy stumbled, the other pressed an advantage in Harry's open side.

It caught him beneath the ribs with an uppercut and he staggered to the side. The dummies moved either side of him and he had to keep turning to make sure they didn't get behind him. He kept them back with short bursts of jabs and kicks while blocking as much as possible.

He took a step towards one and swept it off its feet before dropping a knee to it's face and a punch to it's chest.

He shook his hand to try and get rid of the aching that came with punching wood. The second dummy disappeared like the first one had leaving it as just one on one. Harry's hair was sticking to his head with sweat and he wiped a hand across his brow to stop any getting in his eyes. As his arm dropped and fist came flying towards his face. He blocked it at the last second but had to take a step back. The dummy moved in and sent a kick to his side.

Harry caught the kick and pulled the dummy towards him, bringing his own foot to kick the dummy's stomach. The dummy swiveled on its foot and wrenched its other leg free before attacking Harry's side. Harry reacted just a second to slow and was brought to the floor with the dummy's foot just an inch from his head.

It stayed there and he heard Hermione clapping. "Good. But you really lost your advantage when you wiped your head. You were distracted and couldn't recover properly. But you lasted long and would have won if it wasn't for that." The dummy disappeared and was replaced by Hermione's hand offering to help him up.

He took the hand and grabbed a towel from thin air, drying his hair.

"Take a shower and we'll go get some breakfast."

Harry and Hermione spared a minute to laugh at the two dozen people hanging by there shoelaces before finding their friends. As they sat down, the owl post train filtered through the windows. Hedwig wasn't amongst them but a dark brown owl dropped a copy of the daily prophet into Hermione's lap. She looked over the front page before gasping and showing the paper to the others.

_**Goblin Rebellion - Trouble at Gringotts**_

A/N: Hi!

You know the feeling when you see a Twix in a shop and go 'I could do with a Twix right now' but then when you eat it, you're like 'That wasn't as good as I remember. I think I should get a Mars bar next time' but you never do?

That's how I feel right now.

_Next time: Some repercussions, some plans and an explanation perhaps._


	5. An Invention, before a potion

Hey everyone who's not me. And a special hello to me. 'Nuther chapter for you here so…

_Previously: _

_Welcome one and all to the first weekly extra defense lesson_

_**Goblin Rebellion – Trouble at Gringotts**_

And now…

-/-

"Blimey." Ron was the first to break the group's silence. "All our money. Everyone's…"

"On the bright side, most of the rich wizards are suspected Voldy supporters." Hermione pointed out. "It's got to hit him hard too, right?"

"Yeah…" Ron laughed. "Malfoy's gunna' have to wipe his arse with newspaper now. But Harry… Neville, what about your money?"

"I removed mine last year." Harry revealed. "Snuffles didn't trust the Goblins either so he took most of his out. The Goblins've probably been taking it for years, really. I mean, who really counts how much money they have on a regular basis?"

"It would be quite easy. The goblins are the law in general finances. I doubt any number of wizards would be able to properly keep track of all of those vaults beneath Gringotts. What about you though, Neville? Is your money still in there?"

Neville grimaced before saying "Yeah. I don't control the family accounts until I become sixteen. Gran kept a track of it all with the Goblins' help. So mine's all gone. Still got the house though. It's my parents I'm worried about. St. Mungo's full time treatment is costly."

"I can keep them there, Neville." Harry offered. "Or Snuffles can. He and your dad were in the same Auror squad, I heard."

"Thanks Harry." Neville smiled. "I'll pay you back, I promise."

"Think nothing of it, Neville. And I'm sure the ministry has ways of handling this, right? After all, there's been rebellions before and the Goblins were working for us a few weeks ago. They'll sort it out like before. A bit of negotiation, some better rights, Perhaps the ability to vote or something. The Goblin's have to be after something."

"I don't know, Harry." Hermione said. "This just feels different. Look at the article. No warning just locked doors in the morning and a spear jabbed at anyone attempting to enter. Something's brewing."

"Mmm. Yes…" Harry pondered.

"It'll get better." Luna said, surprising all of them as she hadn't been there a moment ago. "Order always seems to get its way in the end. It shall be fixed by a new grey rather than old corruption."

"Eh?" Ron asked through a mouthful of beans.

"I wonder why they don't serve banoffee pie at breakfast. I think they should." Luna answered, sort of.

"It's a desert." Ginny said. "Why would they serve dessert for breakfast?"

"They do it with fruit salad sometimes. And I enjoy a glass of cereal after dinner. It helps with the munchies." Luna smiled serenely at Ginny before pouring some Cheerios onto her French toast.

"Right…" Ron said, eying the unique culinary choice with curiosity. Perhaps he would try something like that later. But he definitely wouldn't dip a carrot in his milk like Luna was doing now.

Though she didn't eat it. Instead she used it to write on the back of her hand. "To help me remember to feed the Calumps." She said as a way of explanation to the unasked questions on the others' faces.

-/-

"Mr. Potter. Please tell me why your wand is out in class."

"Hogwarts rules clearly state that any subject other than history of magic must have a practical once a fortnight. As this is the last lesson in said fortnight, I assumed you intended to have a practical now." Harry replied smiling sweetly

"There is no such rule and if there is there will not be for long. Such a rule is pointless as there is no real need to cast spells in the real world."

"So there's no need to learn anything? Why didn't you say so? I'll be off then." Harry started to pack up and walked towards the door before he was spoken to again.

"Stop right there, Mr. Potter."

"Why? How are you going to stop me?"

"You will return to your seat."

"I'm all the way over here. Just a step away from the door. How will you stop me leaving?" Umbridge smirked triumphantly and flicked her wand at the door to make it close and lock. Her smirk fell when she saw an identical one on Harry's face. "So we do need magic after all. The rule stands at the moment, Miss. A practical lesson, correct?"

"Open your books to page 143 an…"

"Or I could always tell the school board you've been doing your job incorrectly."

"Very well, Mr Potter. We shall play it your way today. And you will have a detention tonight at six. We shall see if you can pay the price for your impudence."

-/-

"How's it feel now?"

"It's fine, 'Mione." Harry said trying in vain to pull his hand away. Light red lettering still graced the back of his hand despite Hermione's healing spells.

_I will respect authority_

It was probably so bad because he had refused to let Umbridge win. "Do it until you learn your lesson." She had said. Well he had continued until the blood-quill had run out of magic and had woken her to ask for a fresh one. When she saw the time was well after midnight, she screamed him out of the room. He had avoided filch and a few graveyard prefects to get back to the common room

Where Hermione was waiting for him with a myriad of healing magic knowledge and mug of hot chocolate.

"She shouldn't be able to do this." Hermione protested.

"She planned it. She probably made it legal in secret before she got here." Harry rubbed circles into her back to calm her down and she slumped against his chest. Warm arms wrapped around her and she felt exhaustion take hold. Harry followed soon after.

They were found in the later morning by Ginny who scowled at the sight. She gently moved towards the cute looking couple and unwrapped Harry's arms. Being careful not to wake them, she slowly moved Hermione over so they were separate.

If Harry woke up first, he'd think Hermione had moved away and didn't like him that way. If Hermione woke up, likewise. They'd start to distance themselves from each other unconsciously and Ginny would play the supportive role when Harry realized. He'd realize that she was what he wanted all along and they'd date, get married and go to lots of extravagant parties where she would be introduced as Lady Potter.

She walked away from the separated couple quite pleased with herself, not knowing she was being watched.

Neville watched Ginny's actions with a frown. When she had left, he moved them back together and smiled when the two looked happier from the contact. He shook his head at the obliviousness Harry always showed before his mind turned to darker things. He would have to speak to Ginny soon.

Ginny was waiting for the group at breakfast and was confused and perturbed to see that Harry and Hermione were blushing slightly every time the looked at each other. She set it aside as a failure and distracted them with the Prophet which held no real update on the Goblin situation other than Fudge assuring everyone this had nothing to do with Harry and Dumbledore's lies.

-/-

"Happy Birthday!"

A flash of red shot out and hit Ron on the chest.

"Oh god, sorry!" When Hermione was called to the room of requirement for a surprise defense lesson, she was not expecting a surprise party. She had half forgotten it was even her birthday. Unfortunately, Ron paid the price for her unawareness.

"Enervate."

"Geez Hermione. You didn't have to attack me. Most people are thankful that their friends put together a party for them. They don't curse them into unconsciousness. Perhaps on my birthday I'll repay the favour. Even if it isn't a surprise. We'll see how you like having your hard work rewarded with a stunner, eh?"

"I'm so sorry, Ron. I didn't mean to I was surprised and…"

"Well we got the surprise part right, at least." Harry interjected jovially. "Cake?"

The party went reasonably well after that. Ron ate the largest piece of cake and Luna wrapped her present in cling film and was convinced Hermione was a seer after she said what it was before she even opened it.

"Thanks Harry." Hermione said after the others had all said their goodnights and left. "I know you organized this."

"Not a problem, really." Harry replied. "I have another present if you'd like to see it."

"What is it?"

"Take a look." Harry handed her a small brown box. She opened it to find a stone bracelet about an inch and a half wide. It glowed slightly at her touch.

"That's the first time magical recognition kicking in. Only you can use it, I hope."

"What is this?" Hermione asked, examining the bracelet carefully. It had hundreds of tiny Runes scribed over it.

"Try it on." Harry said by way of explanation. She squeezed it over her hand and it fell comfortably onto her wrist. A sharp blue panel shone just in front of her fingers. It had a similar layout to a keyboard and she touched a button hesitantly. A rune a few inches high sprung up a foot above her hand and stayed there. She pressed another key and another, different rune joined the first. She took a closer look at the panel and saw each button had a separate Rune.

"It has most Nordic and Celtic Runes on it with a few eastern hieroglyphs though they're harder to put in properly. The most commonly used should appear beneath your hands though if you think about others they'll appear on the Runepad."

"This is…" Hermione faded off, for once not able to fully describe what she was witnessing."

"You said drawing Runes in a fight is too slow. This speeds it up immeasurably. A runic keyboard."

"This is incredible. You're a genius."

"It's not perfect yet. It uses up larger amounts of power for about the same effect and sometimes has to shut down after prolonged use. I'm developing it to make it more practical. This is the newest version."

"How many versions have you done?"

"That's the fifth. The first, third and fourth were too cumbersome, power draining and couldn't string together large numbers of runes. Only about ten or eleven a minute which is pretty poor, really. The second model actually reacted violently to the magic passed through it and exploded whilst around my wrist."

"So those three days in the hospital wing…?"

"I was getting my hand reattached and regrown. I didn't have dragon pox."

"Oh Harry this is wonderful. It's an amazing present. Thank you so much." She ran up and hugged him.

"Try it out. Make a colour changing rune set." Hermione typed a few buttons and pointed her hand at a sofa which shortly changed colour to bright pink. Hermione laughed and started pointing at other things, swapping the colours quickly and simply. Eventually though, the panel flashed red a few times before shutting off.

"And that would be the power limit so far. About ten minutes to repower, I think."

"Thanks Harry."

"My pleasure, 'Mione. Happy Birthday and good night. He leant in and kissed her forehead before walking up to his room, leaving Hermione watching him long after he'd left her view.

-/-

"Who goes there?" A booming, raspy voice startled the three men in black cloaks. They straightened up quickly and held themselves with an arrogant air that only a pureblood could achieve. There faces held aloft smirks that were hidden by white masks.

Yes, these were Death Eaters. And despite their outward persona, they were very unhappy to be here.

But their Lord did demand it and so it must be.

"It is I, Lord Malfoy." The Leading Death Eater said with a raised voice that barely seemed to carry into the mist. "The Dark Lord has sent me to make contact and perhaps form an alliance."

"We know why you have come." The voice replied

"Our Lord has seen how the current wizarding government has ridiculed your race. With Our Lord leading us, all shall be as equals."

"That is not what brings you to our halls."

"Er…" Lucius faltered. "My Master… he wishes for your kind to aid him. He… It is his wish that we…"

"You have come for the cup."

"How… I mean, what cup is this. Perhaps a symbol of your good will. Surely my Master shall be pleased to here of your acceptance." Lucius Malfoy finished with a certainty that faded as the seconds ticked by. His echo died between the walls and no answer was given.

A scraping noise in the mist emerged. The cold white wisps parted in waves as the outline of a door shone like a marble obelisk in the distance. A figure moved with a graceful limp towards the three Death Eaters.

"Et tu, Lucius?" The figure asked before a shallow, rattling laughter crawled into their ears. "A little twist on famous words and yet they still apply. I had thought you faithful."

"I am ever faithful to the Dark Lord."

"And yet you come here as an emissary from a false one. I had thought better. The cup your new master so dearly wanted is mine now. His stolen power shall not last but I grow ever stronger."

"The Dark Lord is not false." Malfoy shouted with just a hint of desperation. "He is pure and eternal… and a sign of what is soon to come!"

"Julius Caesar was killed when he thought himself above his betters. Do you deign to make the same mistake?"

"Betters?" Lucius bellowed in disgust. "You're nothing but filth, vermi…" His voice was cut off by the slicing of unseen blades. Blood pooled in the mist and fell into a golden cup.

His power was growing.

-/-

"Alright then. A Boggart or a Dementor?"

"Well I'd like to say the Dementor would win but a Boggart can only really be beaten by the Riddikulus spell. But can a Dementor really have a greatest fear to take the form of?"

"Maybe the Boggart'll turn into the first Patronus the Dementor saw as a child or maybe it'll be a spell that can actually kill it. Or a man that could."

"Can you have Dementor children? I always thought they just appeared or all the current ones were summoned and none have died."

"I'd hope they weren't children. Just imagine the traumatic childhood its classmates would have had."

"Not to mention the idea of Dementors having sex."

"Ew… Ron!"

This was a snippet of the conversation that the Golden Trio was spouting on their way to the Great Hall for lunch. It was the snippet that Delores Jane Umbridge heard when she was attempting to stealthily shadow them to discover the fundaments of the anarchistic plan they were no doubt concocting with that meddling fool Dumbledore.

The fact that the three of them had only seen the Headmaster at Breakfast and Dinner times and had no contact otherwise had no context in her firm belief in this matter.

Incidentally, Pink is the second worst colour to attempt anything stealthy in unless you are planning to infiltrate a pink wafer factory. So the three students had noticed her approaching and if they indeed had been discussing the inner workings of an ingenious plan to overthrow the government and replace it with a just and equal utopian society, they wouldn't have been anymore and would probably have talked about something less incriminating. Like, for instance, Dementors reproducing.

"Huh…" Harry said, waiting for someone to ask him 'what?'

Hermione obliged. "What?"

"Pink goes good with green."

Hermione looked at him strangely for a moment before spotting Umbridge walk past with a rather green complexion. She smiled and covered her mouth to try and stop a giggle. Tonks took this time to make her entrance.

"Flirting with Hermione again, Mr. Potter." She smirked. "You sure are being obvious about it."

"I know. They go out of there way to sneak away but try and pretend there's nothing going on in public." Ron added, getting bewildered stares from Harry and Hermione. "With those two, you'd think they'd be overjoyed to find someone and couldn't wait to show the world."

"Maybe their waiting for someone to call them on it." Tonks proposed. "So they can make a big public affair of it."

"Maybe the two people you're referring to in the third person are getting annoyed with you two." Harry said coolly. Ron purposely ignored them.

"I'd call them out myself, of course," He said with a look of stricken grief on his face. "But I'm their best friend. It's not my place to do so."

"Shut up guys." Hermione said, sitting down, followed shortly by Harry and Ron. Tonks stayed standing for a few seconds before taking a seat and grabbing some food.

"This might just be my last meal here for a while, guys."

"I'll be so sad to see you go." Harry said sarcastically. Tonks ignored him.

"Yeah, Fudge is starting to get worried about all this rebellion business. He's convinced that, even though he's dead, this is Voldemort's doing. And that the Goblins are rebelling in order to make him look bad so Dumbledore can take his place as minister. So to save face, he's got a constant guard of a dozen or so Aurors to patrol the Gringotts perimeter in case of a Goblin attack, see. And I drew a short straw. Night shift for a month."

"Bad luck." Harry said, remembering the time Uncle Vernon wanted him to clean the gutter at night. His reasoning was so that the drainpipes could soak up some ozone. It had taken him a fortnight and despite being allowed sleep during the day, he was knackered by the end of it.

Tonks nodded grimly before smiling a little bit less grimly but still with the potential to be pretty grim. "And before I forget, Snuffles is gunna' pay a visit to the firemen. Should be interesting. I find the Lion's room is the best place to watch. Around midnight gets you the best view."

"And you said we weren't subtle." Harry remarked as Tonks stood up.

"Bye you three." She called back, passing Luna and Neville on her way out.

"You guys seen Ginny?" Neville asked. "I needed to talk to her."

"No, sorry" And similar replied were uttered. The two of them took a seat opposite the trio and put some food onto there plates.

"So how did you guys do with the transfiguration essay?" Neville asked after a few mouthfuls of pasta salad. "I could barely write five inches about the effect of exaggerating wand movements on the teapot to tortoise transfiguration, let alone a whole foot."

"I put my points into a list with large spaces between the lines." Ron answered smugly. "Only took me ten minutes."

"McGonagall uses a font adjustment spell, Ron. It'll remove the gaps." Hermione pointed out. Ron blanched.

"Really?"

"How else do you think she reads my handwriting?" Harry joked.

"You've got to help me, Hermione. I'll write it myself and everything. Just give me some pointers. Quick! Move the food away. She'll know I did it now if she sees food on the parchment." Ron panicked around, rifling through his bag for a quill. Neville took the time to ask Hermione how she did.

"I found that I had to cut back to stop going over the four foot mark." Hermione answered.

Her reply received a squealed "I thought the maximum limit was just a joke!" from Ron.

"But I think I managed a good overall view whilst going into appropriate detail on the most important points." Hermione continued.

"What details?" Ron pleaded. "Just the names, ideas, anything!"

"Ron. Calm down." Harry placed a hand on his shoulder. "Pick up your quill." Ron did. "Now I'll tell you some basic points and point you in the right direction but it really should be your own work. Come on. There has to be a smart brain cell in there somewhere."

"Thanks. Harry. You're a life saver."

-/-

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah. Three bottles of freshly made Polyjuice potion. Under stasis and ready for hair addition. Courtesy of Professor Snape. Why didn't we do it like this in our second year?" Harry asked, slipping off the invisibility cloak to show him and three bottles.

"We were young, naïve and respectful to all our teachers." Hermione replied. "You sure about this?"

"You heard what Snuffles said. Malfoy Sr. has left the public eye. So either he's dead or he's doing a secret mission for Voldy. Blondie hasn't been screaming at me or anyone for revenge so it must be the second."

"Yeah. I know. I just don't want to be a cat-girl again."

"If it's any consolation. You'd make a wonderful cat-girl now." Harry said, intending it to be a joke. That aspect failed when he saw Hermione blush heavily and he began to blush as well. "I mean… er… You've certainly grown and I think… er…You'd look cute…" Harry stammered, blushing heavier and heavier with each word.

"Thankyou Harry." Hermione was hiding her face in her hands but he could hear a chuckle in her voice.

"So…" Harry said, trying to steer the conversation away from something that could make him imagine Hermione with kitten ears and tail. Wearing just a collar and a bell… "… We just wait for Ron, then?"

Hermione looked up and he could see she was still blushing. "Yeah. See if he wants to come to. And we could use this time to discuss how or why Ron seems to think we're dating too."

"Oh yeah. That was… annoying." Harry said, frowning slightly. "Maybe we should tell him. I feel a little bad about leaving him out. Yeah we're training with him in the extra defense lessons but…"

"I know. He was really pushy during the summer but he's laid off a lot since we got here."

"Yeah. That's weird. We'll bring him along for this and then see how he is."

"Sure." Hermione agreed just as Ron came through the door. Harry called him over to them where he slumped into a chair and through his hands to his face.

"I can't believe I wrote the essay in pumpkin juice. I'm an idiot."

"You made some good points…" Harry offered.

"But I wrote it in pumpkin juice. She took my paper and saw pumpkin juice where ink should be. That obviously clued her in. I had to mark all the first years' tests. It took me four hours! They're more idiotic than me! Four hours of telling them that no, the matchstick didn't change because they said the words loudly. That the matchsticks weren't filled with magic and the words didn't just convince fairies to do their bidding!"

"Next time. Ask for help earlier instead and you won't make that mistake." Hermione said unsympathetically.

"I didn't know I'd need to ask for help!" Ron shouted.

"We've got something to cheer you up!" Harry interrupted before anymore shouting could wake up anyone. "We've got some Polyjuice here. Masters batch. Enough to last us six hours a mouthful. You want to go infiltrate some Slytherins?"

"Six hours in Goyle's skin? I'll pass this time." Ron said, standing up and trudging to the stairs. He turned and called back. "Save me a bottle though. And one of Parvati's hairs too. Maybe I'll see if her and her sister have a special relati…"

"Don't even think it, Ron!" Hermione interrupted loudly before he could continue. "We'll save you one teaspoon but we'll regulate how you use it."

"Spoilsport." Ron mumbled sleepily before slinking upstairs to bed.

"Pervert!" Hermione retorted though whether Ron heard it or not he didn't reply. "Well." She continued on a lighter note. "Let's get on with it. You have your hair?"

Harry nodded and pulled a folded tissue from his back pocket before unfolding it and revealing a single hair. He had been tempted to take Blaise Zabini's hair for comfort's sake but he had heard that he was an outcast in Slytherin so had to go with a safe option. Vincent Crabbe. He had stunned him and taken the hair just after lunch.

"I have mine." Hermione showed him the hair she had taken from Millicent Bulstrode. She had made sure this time. She stunned the Slytherin before cutting out a piece of hair, handling it with tweezers, before transferring it to a sealable plastic case. "Let's go."

Harry was just about to drop his hair in when a burst of flame struck the air above them. Fawkes appeared in the fire and hovered above the bottles. He shook his wing violently, making a feather fall off, before bursting away again. The two Gryffindors watched the feather float gently down and slip inside the neck of a bottle before dissolving into the potion, turning it a brickish-red colour. Harry picked it up and peered inside.

"Harry. I know what you're thinking. And don't. Animal cells and Polyjuice don't mix. Hundreds of wizards have been killed trying to gain animal powers."

"But how many of them used phoenix hair?"

"Harry…"

"I already have Phoenix tears in my blood and some Basilisk venom."

"That was a one time thing. They cancelled out and were used up."

"I'm not so sure it was. But why would Fawkes drop a feather in if it would kill me. Phoenixes are light sided birds. He'd be more likely to try and kill Voldemort, right?"

"Well…"

"There we go." Harry concluded, bringing the bottle to his lips and taking a large gulp of the potion.

"No…" Hermione yelled. But he didn't listen, swallowing the potion in his mouth.

"That wasn't that bad. Peppermint flavour." He flexed his arms and fingers. "I don't feel anything. I guess it didn't do any…" He trailed off into a strangled cry before collapsing against the sofa.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, trying to wake him up. "Come on. Don't die you stupid idiot. I told you not to drink it but you didn't listen. 'Cause you're an idiot." She held is hand and cried, all the while trying to wake him.

But he didn't wake.

-/-

Dun dun dun…

No it's not the end. Would be a pretty cruddy ending if it was. I think we all know what will happen next but I still won't spoil it.

I did write something else but it contained spoilers for the later parts of this story so I deleted it.

I love Banoffee pie. I had some yesterday and I was like… 'I love this! Why has it been so long since I ate it?' to say the least, it more than made up for the Twix fiasco.

Pink wafers are nice too. I found a shop that sold 24 for a pound and I was in heaven as I had a five pound note. But I went back and found the shop had been replaced with a dustbin and a drunken hobo that called me a rube. It was slightly depressing, if not perplexing. I never found the shop again.

I'm ranting so…

See you next time. Whenever that is.


	6. Waking, Stalking, Flying and other Ings

A/N: It's been a while, huh? I switched my internet provider and hit a snafu during set up. Then I had virus troubles. Add to that my general laziness and you get an unfair wait for you. Well here we are. Do enjoy and review. I'm going to start replying! And I'd like to know how to make this story even better. And I realized the scene change markers went missing when I uploaded before. Fixed hopefully.

-/-

_Previously: _

"_Order always seems to get its way in the end. It shall be fixed by a new grey rather than old corruption."_

_I will respect authority_

_But he didn't wake._

-/-

So far, Harry had missed a day of class. Normally Hermione wouldn't allow this but seeing as he wouldn't wake up the only things she could do were leave him hidden in his bed, tell a teacher or levitate him around the castle and hope no one would notice the way his feat only bumped against the ground and he occasionally let out snores and the fact that his glasses were now heavily tinted.

She didn't want to tell a teacher just yet because then she'd have to explain how they had used magical animal DNA in a Polyjuice potion which was illegal enough as it was but then she was a terrible liar so she'd let slip about how it was stolen and how they were planning to turn Harry into a vigilante.

So no. She would only tell someone if he didn't wake up after… two days? No better make it tomorrow. There was a test the day after and Harry couldn't miss that.

She had noticed Professor McGonagall's disapproving stare at Harry's empty place and the way Snape would duck increasing numbers of points from Gryffindor when Harry wouldn't answer a question due to his absence.

By the end of the day's lessons she was happy to at least not feel as much of the guilt of knowing why harry wasn't in lessons but not doing anything because of her own choice. She climbed the stairs to the boys' dorm to check on Harry's condition. He had developed a fever after a few hours so she had placed a cooling charm or two on him. She would remove it and check to see if he had improved.

Only, she found that Harry wasn't alone in the dorm.

Or his bed.

Luna Lovegood was sitting on his pillow with his head in her lap, tenderly stroking his hair. Hermione was struck between interrupting such a sweet moment and her concern for Harry. And a few dashes of jealousy though she didn't think about that.

In the end the decision was made for her as Luna, who probably heard her in someway, looked up, a light blush blooming on her cheeks before she pulled herself together.

"Oh, hello there Hermione." The blond greeted as though her current situation was no more odd than reading a book.

Hermione quashed the few rogue whispers that wanted it to be her lap Harry's head was on and managed to sound at least somewhat polite in her reply. "Hi Luna. Er… why are you here?"

"Well I noticed Harry missed breakfast. Which is odd because it's usually his favourite meal of the day. And since today is Tuesday and they always serve hash browns on Tuesdays, I knew he was probably ill or similar as he wouldn't miss those. I checked the hospital wing when he didn't go to the first lesson and then came up here."

"How did you get past the portrait?" Hermione asked, discreetly sitting by Harry's side and taking his hand in hers.

"I answered the riddle of course." Luna replied happily before glancing back down at Harry. And a little bit at his hand that Hermione was holding. "I must say you did a good job in looking after him and the adaptive cooling charm was inspired. Only…"

"Hmm...?" Hermione enquired, always eager to learn something new.

"Well it would be good for regulating a body to the normal human temperature if they had a fever but in Harry's case it's like putting a healthy person in a freezer…" Luna said bashfully. At Hermione's confused look, she pressed on. "But… Harry isn't quite human anymore. Normal magical creature crossovers end in fatalities because the body isn't strong enough for the adaptations but Harry's always been strong willed."

"And he already had magical DNA in his blood!" Hermione added, realization stirring in her eyes.

"Dee-enaye?" Luna cocked her head to the side. "Is that one of those tiny animals the muggles claim they've seen through their long glasses?"

"No it's…" Hermione's chance to teach Luna something was taken away when a sharp administrative knock sounded from the door shortly before Minerva McGonagall's voice broke through.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Potter if you are in there, I would like to have a word with you. Skipping lessons without a reason is most frowned upon in this school." The doorknob started to turn and the door opened a little bit before Hermione could get there to stop it.

So she was left standing face to face with her head of house, looking quite flustered.

"Miss Granger? What are you doing in the boy's dorm?" The professor asked almost instantly fearing the worst. "I should think you had better let me in right now Miss Granger."

"You can't!" Hermione almost yelled. "I mean I'm… we… I…"

"I'm not decent!" Luna called out from the bed, still sitting where she was. Hermione turned to her with an unbelieving expression while the transfiguration teacher's face softened.

"Now I see. I know how prejudiced the wizarding world sadly can be so I understand your reluctance to bring this out in the open. Rest assured your secret is safe with me. Perhaps once this war and mess is over you'll feel safe enough to come out. I hope you and Miss Lovegood at least make each other happy. Though might I suggest somewhere else for your meetings?" McGonagall finished with a smile and shut the door, aiming to look for Harry at the quidditch pitch.

"She…" Hermione almost couldn't form words. "She thought we were…"

"I shouldn't worry about it Hermione." Luna said smiling brightly. "I'm quite flattered she recognized my voice so easily."

-/-

When Ron had asked Hermione where Harry was she had replied that she couldn't tell him right now but promised it would probably be soon. In the mean time, she had said, it might be nice for him to hang out with someone else for the rest of the day as she needed to do something important.

He had feared that this might be a hint that he was acting like a third wheel. And that perhaps they wouldn't really need him anymore.

Well, he figured, they were better friends than just to drop that on him but to make sure he would get a fourth wheel. Then they could make a car. But he had to actually work up the courage to ask her first.

Some Gryffindor he was, afraid to ask a girl out. It was kind of hard though. The only things for couples to do were go to Hogsmeade, find broom closets or perform public displays of affection. He doubted the last two would go well for a first date. And their also wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend for another month and a half.

And by that time someone else could have asked her. Or Harry and Hermione could have broken up their friendship with him. In which case he could still ask her out but he wouldn't have his good friends. To have fun with and give advice for relationships.

Maybe they could go for a walk? No. It would be like walking around your own house. Too familiar no matter how big it was.

And there she was now. She made throwing a Quaffle seem so effortless. And the way her hair would bounce slightly as she turned…

Some people would probably have asked why a Gryffindor was 'spying' on a Hufflepuff quidditch practice session. Especially if that Gryffindor was also an aspiring Keeper.

But what else is a best friend's invisibility cloak for?

-/-

It was an undeniably naked Harry Potter that woke up in the middle of a black nothingness. Well the very fact that he woke up means there must have been air around him enough to survive. And he could tell he was naked not only by the feel of a solid cold surface against his back but also by a small amount of light coming from the distance.

So it was an undeniably naked Harry Potter that woke up in a dimly lit place with air and a floor. Though that doesn't sound nearly as impressive

Having nothing better to do in this rather empty place, Harry wandered in what he assumed was the lights direction.

-/-

"Oh! I think he moved! Or was that gas?"

"No he definitely moved."

"So he might wake up soon?"

"Who knows."

-/-

The light was almost blinding now and showed the silhouette of a towering snake. It was jabbing at the source of the light, what he could just about make out as a phoenix. Quickly analyzing the situation and deciding this was most likely some sort of mental metaphor for the internal struggle his body must be undergoing, he charged forward to aid the phoenix.

-/-

"Would you like a game of Ultimate Naughts and Crosses?"

"No."

"Clubs?"

"No."

"Duality?"

-/-

The snake was the first to notice his presence and lashed out with its tail, stopping it just short and wrapping it around him, forming a cell of sorts. This distraction was the opening the phoenix needed as it dove abruptly and attacked the underside of the snake. Harry clutched at his throat as it burned from the inside. What was happening? Why would he be hurting now? Unless…

Then he saw it, the lighting bolt on the snake's head. It was so unsubtle that he was surprised he'd missed it. The snake was him? But they were Slytherin-y… With a new determination he jumped through a gap in his makeshift cell and started thinking of large amounts of water and ice. He didn't feel comfortable conjuring up darkness in his own mind so cold and wet was the best counter he had.

The phoenix faltered under the sudden storm that turned to hail and sleet as its success was proven. Redoubling his efforts, Harry almost missed the flaming bird's attention switching to him. As it was he barely got out of the way of its talons as it swooped down.

More snow and water hit its back and wings and pushed it into the floor. The snake, now battle ready once more moved quickly and wrapped the phoenix tightly, holding the head of the struggling bird just in front of Harry. Seeing the snake's intense stare and interpreting it confidently, the still naked teenager reached out and placed his hand against the phoenix's forehead. A silver lightning bolt shape spread out on the bird's head plumage and it grew still, bowing to its new master.

-/-

A few Hufflepuffs who were alternating between watching the quidditch practice and watching for spies were startled to hear a yelled "Eureka!" from a seemingly empty spot on the stands beside them. But any detections spells cast couldn't find anyone there. Shrugging, they turned back to their conversations and watchings

Ron stood stiff as the increasingly powerful detection spells failed to find him just a few feat away from an intimidating looking seventh year. Letting out a breath while cursing Hermione for informing him of that that term, he moved as quietly as possible on the squeaky old stands.

When he was far enough so glimpses of feat wouldn't be seen, he ran as fast as possible to the castle before stowing the cloak and pelting up to the Gryffindor tower.

"Hermione! Harry!" He yelled to an almost empty common room. A few startled first years pointed to the boys' stairs and he was off again, bursting into the boys' fifth year dorm room. Or he would have done if the door had given way like he had planned.

As Hermione had placed a locking spell, Ron feel backwards and nearly fell back down the stairs.

"Harry? Hermione? You in there?"

"I'm not decent!" A voice yelled through the door. One that Ron was startled to recognize so easily.

"Luna?"

-/-

"I'm not decent!" was the first thing Harry heard when he came to. He had the feeling he'd forgotten something. With a bird and a snake. Oh well it probably wasn't important. He heard Ron calling something from outside the door and went to open it, not noticing Hermione shaking her head and whispering at him to stop or that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"It's locked. Hang on a sec." Harry called after his first attempt failed. Luna helpfully flicked her wand at the door to which he nodded his thanks before trying again.

"Hey mate." Harry said, his bare chest leaning out from behind the door. "What's up?"

"Hermione _and_ Luna? That's bloody impressive…" Ron breathed in astonishment. Hermione glared at Luna.

"Stop yelling that out every time someone comes to the door. You'll get a reputation."

"I already have several." Luna replied airily. "I think I'll start a collection." Hermione palmed her face, sighing irritably.

"You guys got a sec?" Ron asked slowly. "Only I need some… knowledge. And you're the best I could think of."

"Give me a sec. I need a shower. And Luna and Hermione probably need to do whatever it is girls do," Harry said, referring to the fact they might need to freshen up after looking after him for what he presumed was longer than just one night.

"Yeah, alright." Ron nodded before closing the door and leaning against a wall. _'Two girls! I suppose he deserves it, all the stuff he's been through. And he has to deal with twice the nagging. As long as he doesn't go after the girl that I like it'll be fine.'_ Ron thought decisively, though wondering why he was being so vague in his thoughts. Finally he shrugged and added _'Does this mean there'll be five wheels?'_

-/-

"So it's Iscura?" Ron wanted to make sure.

"Is_cuur_a. Really over-pronounce the _cuur_." Hermione dictated.

"And a swish and a jab at you target and you're all set." Harry added for good measure.

"What if the target is moving?" Neville asked, interested.

"Then it's best if you anticipate where it will be in a few seconds. The spell takes a few seconds to warm up."

"Moving targets?" Undersecretary Delores Umbridge murmured to herself. "They're practicing for battle! I just knew it! The minister must hear about this!" With that she… scuttled… off to her office to use the floo.

-/-

"My back itches."

"I know, Harry." Hermione repeated for the thirty second time before going back to her potions work.

"My back itches. "Harry repeated for the thirty fourth time just a few minutes later.

"Fine let's have a look at it." Hermione whispered brutally. They were in a library after all. She pulled his shirt up and looked at his back. Filing away the numerous scars for a deep heart to heart talk later, she looked for any signs of a rash. There was nothing there. She put her hand onto it pulled it away immediately.

"You're boiling." She gasped out after a second. "You need to go to the hospital wing."

"And do you think Madame Pomfrey won't notice the signs that I've used an illegal sample for Polyjuice?"

"Ah. Then we'll see what the room of requirements has to offer." Hermione finished her two and half feat with a small flourish and packed up her books before dragging Harry off. She paced back and forth while thinking about 'a place where we can help Harry's back troubles'.

Hoping she was specific enough to not emerge in a chiropractor's office, they opened the newly appeared door. Inside they found a very large room. That was an understatement. The room could quite easily beat the Hogwarts grounds in terms of space.

On a side note, the magic used to power such a size enlargement was siphoned of evenly from every being in the school. Meaning that not one first year got their feather to rise that day.

Fairly near the door was a stand with a cushion. And on closer inspection, the cushion had a knife on it. A very sharp and quite large knife that looked as though it could easily cut through a grown mans arm.

"You didn't wish for a room where you could mutilate me, did you?" Harry asked, not really sure if he was completely joking. "Cause if it's about that whole misunderstanding with Ron…"

"No Harry. The room seems to have decided the best way to help your back troubles is with a large room and a knife. Any ideas?"

"No." Harry said simply.

"Right. Well, shirt off."

"Eh?"

"I want a proper look at your back." Hermione explained picking up the knife and running a finger along the flat edge. It was about a foot long and curved back at the end. She turned back to Harry to see him sitting on the ground with his shirt beside him. He was blushing under her scrutiny as she moved and began tracing the scars on his back.

"How did you get all of these?" Curiosity got the better of her.

"One was from the horntail." Harry evaded

"And the other dozen or so?" She asked sternly.

"I was a clumsy kid." Harry said quietly.

"That's bullshit and you know it." Harry was so shocked by Hermione swearing that he didn't deny her claim so she carried on. "Why do you have to go back to those people? They aren't human. You wait till I get my hands on them. I'd thought Ron was exaggerating when he said you had bars on the window but…"

Harry shifted uncomfortably and tried to reach for his shirt. "Don't you dare, Harry James Potter!" Hermione nearly shouted she calmed down when she saw him flinch. "I'm sorry. And you shouldn't be ashamed. It's not your fault and it shows just how amazing you are, turning out so wonderful even with all of this." She stopped herself and blushed as she went back to tracing scars.

"These ones are different. They're marks but they aren't where the skin was broken. It's more like they're…" She stopped and picked up the knife again. "Any chance of some sort of numbing agent?" The witch asked the room. Nothing appeared. "Right. Well Harry I have an idea but it will be very painful. It might not even work so…"

"Just do it. If it's one of your ideas it's probably correct." Harry smiled.

"You don't always have to be so brave, you know." Hermione berated him.

"But I do." He muttered so she couldn't hear. Then louder, "Go ahead. I'm ready." He had a fair idea of what she meant and wasn't disappointed when he felt the cool metal at the top right hand side of his back. Hermione braced herself for what she was about to do but tears still fell from her eyes as Harry didn't even wince as the knife bit into his flesh, blood leaking quickly. She had to stop and collect herself with only a few inches to go. Harry just sat and waited.

After she had finished, Hermione pulled the knife away and asked the room for a jug. When it appeared she filled it quickly with a spell before gently rinsing Harry's wound. She thought she saw something moving just inside the large cut as she moved her hand towards it.

The brown haired girl let out a startled scream as something bright red and orange launched out of Harry's back and into the air. She fainted a few seconds afterwards.

-/-

"Ginny."

"Yes Neville?"

"Can I speak with you?" The normally quiet and often nervous boy stared at the flame-haired girl with forced bravery. He glanced at the few other girls in Ginny's current group. "Privately."

"Of course Nev." Ginny replied, smiling. She had an idea of what Neville wanted to talk about. He had taken her to the Yule ball the year before so maybe he wanted to ask her out. That could be advantageous as she could show off her relationship in front of Harry without seeming like she was trying to get his attention.

And if that wasn't what he wanted to ask… well then it didn't matter. Neville sat on a desk in an unused classroom.

"Ginny, I…" His nerves were starting to fail him. "Lately I've noticed that…"

"It's Ok Nev. I know what you're trying to say." Ginny said kindly, acting shy. "I'd like to. Go out with you, I mean."

"What?"

"That's what you were asking, right?" Ginny said, still speaking timidly

"No, Ginny." Neville said and Ginny's face fell slightly. "No I don't think I'd want that right now with what I've seen of you."

"What?" It was Ginny's turn to be confused.

"I saw you move Harry and Hermione apart when they were sleeping on the sofa that night. And since then I've seen you practically pull several 'boyfriends' in front of Harry and start kissing them." He paused before sighing. "Harry and Hermione… They go well together. You can either accept that or not but… You can't use such underhanded tricks. It's not right. It's not what a Gryffindor would do…" He trailed off, not sure how to continue.

"You're right Neville." Ginny spoke after a few minutes of silence. "It's not. I'm sorry." She stood up and left the classroom, smirking when her back was turned. "But you've made me realize that isn't working. I'll just have to try something better."

-/-

Hermione came too an indeterminate amount of time later. She regarded Harry sitting on a stone that wasn't there before. He was looking intently at the large wing protruding from his back as it flexed. "It's odd isn't it?" He seemed a bit detached.

Hermione couldn't form a reply and wasn't sure if the question was even directed at her.

"My family always called me a freak." Hermione wanted to hug him and tell him he wasn't but she was still weary of the new addition to his body. "And now I really am one."

"We're all freaks on the inside, Harry." A dreamy voice cut in. "Now you just have a way of showing it."

"Luna." Harry breathed, still watching the wing.

"Another person that can recognize my voice?" Luna said as she sat next to Hermione. "It's strange that I'm so well known all of a sudden. Would you like me to do the other one?" Harry nodded and the odd girl picked up the knife and moved much quicker and easier than Hermione had. She washed off the wound with some more water and coaxed the other wing out, smiling absently when it emerged.

"It's time to spread your wings, Harry." Luna whispered pulling him up without protest. "It's time to fly. Would you like that?" Harry merely nodded again. Hermione could only watch as Luna leant up and kissed him softly. "Then fly." His brain heard the soft order and his wings let out a mighty stroke, propelling him upwards. He hovered a few metres off the ground for almost thirty minutes.

Hermione was struck my how majestic he looked, large fiery wings pulsing up and down as he stared vacantly ahead. This image would be engrained in her head for years to come. It was almost perfect.

Harry's mind was finally clearing. He had gone in to a small shock when he had seen the wings. Years of familial abuse being proven true. He wasn't normal anymore. Sure he had had vague ideas something like this might happen when he had taken the potion but…

The wind his new wings caused stirred his mind and reminded him of his love of flying.

The first sign the two girls had that Harry was back to normal was the loud whoop of delight as he swept above them, circling and looping in the near endless space. He could have stayed like that forever but new he wouldn't. Not yet. Perhaps when all this was finally over.

"Let's go get some food. We might still be able to get dinner." He said as the room provided a harness to hide his wings comfortably. "Then we can try and work out what else happened to me."

"Actually, it's only just gone time for lunch. I'm afraid you missed herbology though." Luna contributed.

"Ok." Hermione said. "It's not like we can't catch up. Helping Harry was more important." Harry smiled thankfully and led the way down to the great hall.

"Hey guys," Ron greeted them as he and Neville shifted to give them space to sit. "Where were you in herbology?" Harry looked at Hermione and Luna unsurely. Ron caught the look and came to his own logical conclusion. "Say no more. I don't need details. Just hope you used protection." Harry and Hermione blushed, the latter sending a glare at Luna.

They talked a bit more while loading their plates, Harry taking noticeably more than usual.

"Don't eat too much Harry," Ron of all people warned before backing it up, "The sight of Snape's hair can make even the strongest man loose his lunch."

Harry's face paled. "Ron. Please tell me that in the last two and a half hours since I've seen you that you've suddenly developed an unbelievable aptitude for potions and calligraphy and have been kind enough to forge a unique version of the assignment for me with your leftover knowledge? Harry begged. Ron's face paling was an answer in itself.

"There was an assignment?" He whispered, appearing close to tears before looking fearfully to Harry. "May god have mercy on our souls." The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before bursting into laughter.

"Well we're screwed but it's only the greasy git so who cares."

"Harry!" Hermione scolded like it was second nature, which it was now. "He's a professor and you shouldn't disrespect him."

"No promises." Ron answered happily.

-/-

Over the next few weeks, Harry practiced flying, no more breakthroughs in any hinted powers came but he was sure he had a better grasp of the Incendio spell and other fire based spells. He could often cast them without having to speak the incantation.

Tonks dropped in now and again, teasing Harry and Hermione about their relationship some more. When Ron hinted that Luna was now involved, Tonks soon learned that it was damn near impossible to embarrass her. So she saved her energy for the two H's who always blushed so much.

Halloween rolled up as time passed, The Gringotts situation had not changed and people had been noticeably spending less. Any attempts at negotiation were met with fierce rebuttals and luckily no casualties had been recorded yet.

Harry was just reaching for another slice of treacle tart at the Halloween feast when a flock of owls poured into the hall. Special editions of the Daily Prophet landed in peoples' laps, showing the Headline…

Aurors Taken Hostage at Gringotts

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and whispered worriedly "Tonks was on duty today is she…?" Harry scanned the paper for names and sure enough near the bottom was the name Nymphadora Tonks.

"We're not letting this go on." Harry spoke quietly but with determination. "I can't just sit around and let the ministry cock up a dozen Auror's lives. Tonks…"

"I know." Hermione stated. "I support you in this. Let's go."

No superhero costume had been sorted out yet, they knew this. But it didn't stop them as they walked though the dark walls of Hogwarts.

"Come on, we'll just have to give you a mask or change your hair colour. You can go from the astronomy tower so no one will see you. I hope so anyway…" Hermione stopped when she realized Harry was no longer just behind her but rather several metres so. She turned to see him inspecting one of the many suits of armour that lined hallways in the castle. "Harry this is no time to admire the… oh."

Harry turned his head with a slight smile gracing his lips. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

-/-

A/N: Hehehe…

I uh… I forget to mention. To get my internet back I struck a deal with the… Internet Mafia… And if I don't get enough e-mails I won't be able to post another chapter cause I won't have the internet. Yeah… So I figure. The best way to get e-mails would be by notifications that I have reviews… Eh? I think about twenty or so might do it…eh? Wink wink, hint hint?

No I don't mean that. I'm not really a review whore. I am in fact a review pimp. I whore my reviews out to other authors. '_Noun Daddy'_ they call me. Funkiest review pimp this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I need my medication.

_Next week: A fight, a rescue and a proposal I suppose_


	7. Gringotts Happenings, but not much else

Disclaimer: If Harry Potter was mine, perhaps the British Pound would be worth more…

_Previously:_

_Aurors Taken Hostage at Gringotts_

_"You thinking what I'm thinking?"_

-/-

Bright red wings disappeared over the horizon and Hermione sighed, slumping against a wall. A flash the colour of time behind her lit the room and she turned around smiling at Harry.

"How'd it go?" She asked. The fact that he'd come back and not run off as a hermit proved that it had at least gone passably well. Harry's deep scowl however was set to disagree.

-/-

Nymphadora Tonks, Trainee Auror, Metamorphagus, Clumsiest Witch in Western Europe, was sitting on something hard. It was probably the floor. She was blindfolded so she couldn't really tell for certain. And she was tied up so she wasn't going anywhere soon. There was a lot of scuffling around her but there had been for quite a while. Goblins seemed quite content to drag their feet when walking. When the scuffling died down, it was replaced by clinical footsteps.

Quiet rested on the room. The occupants seemed to be straining to hear any word this newcomer would say.

"That one."

Tonks braced herself against any rough handling but thankfully none came. She heard the panicked noises of one of the other Aurors, though was unable to recognize who it was. The scuffling increased as the Auror was dragged away and then things got calmer again.

She forced herself to focus on something other than what may be happening to that poor Auror. They had all been told that the anxiety could make you snap long before torture was used. So Tonks concerned herself with trivial matters. She only wished she had known Morse code, she could have found out who else was there. Providing they also knew Morse code of course.

Why had she even become an Auror? She'd expected to be laughed out of the registration office, most likely. But then that old coot Mad-eye had seen some potential and Tonks had jumped at the chance. When an Auror looks like he got caught between a knife shop and a magnet museum, you just know they're good. Or clumsy. In fact, she'd have probably ended up looking like that long ago without her Metamorphagus skills.

Perhaps if she got out of this she could just throw in her badge and take a nice relaxing job in a pillow factory. Or a marshmallow farm. But that would easy way out. She wanted to make her mum proud. Prove she could do it. That was why she enrolled. But with the training she's hardly had the time to see her. Maybe she could use the leave she'd no doubt get after this to spend a week or so there.

She was so preoccupied with her inner musing to notice the scuffling had stopped.

"That one."

Tonks was jerked from her thoughts as gnarled hands tugged her up and dragged her backwards. She dug in her heels, resulting in a horrible screeching noise, just to annoy her captives. After a while, someone grabbed her legs and she was carried completely.

Dropping violently in a chair, the Auror was untied and the blindfold was removed. What she saw after he eyes adjusted was both disgusting and oddly elegant.

Indeed the goblin in front of her filled every description of a creature that might dwell beneath your bed. Shriveled greenish skin. Red eyes. His fingers trailed into chipped yet still sharp claw like nails. His mouth was deformed, drooping down at one side, forming an uncontrollably drooling leer. He was taller than other Goblins. Taller than most humans. Nearly seven foot of unnaturalness.

Yet he was wearing an expensive looking suit and sipping tea from a china cup, little finger pointing out and all. He placed the cup on a saucer and tried to smile. Tonks almost lost her lunch. The goblin before her pushed another cup towards her and gestured to a plate of shortbread biscuits.

"Please help yourself." He said with a slur impossible to replicate. Tonks eyed the biscuits warily and kept her arms crossed over her chest, to stop them fidgeting nervously. "No? Ah well. Still no attempts to negotiate a ransom." The goblin said sadly. "I almost think the Humans don't care if you die."

"Why would you want a ransom?" Tonks asked bravely. "You've got all the wizarding world's gold."

"You are a sharp one." The goblin butchered a smile "But I don't have all of it. It seems that half-blood Potter didn't trust us. Neither did that disgrace of a Black." The Goblin paused. "I'm going to make you an offer. The same offer I made your friend who was in here previously. You can swear your allegiance to me, on your magic. You will be rewarded with money far beyond your dreams. Or you can refuse. If you refuse then you may go… as long as all of the other Aurors refuse as well. Should just one of you choose to side with me then I will kill all those who refuse.

"So do you place your trust in your fellow Aurors to stay true to an idiotic minister at low salary, or do you want to ensure your own survival, bearing in mind you could be sentencing up to fourteen men to death?"

"I'm not scared." Tonks said snidely though inside she was shaking.

"Indeed?" The goblin answered without missing a beat, his smirk conveying that he knew just how frightened she was. "Then what is your choice?"

"I refuse." Tonks said with steel in her voice. "I don't give a shit about Fudge. He can choke to death on that toad woman's pubic hair for all I care. But whether or not I make it out of here alive, I wouldn't be able to look my mum, my cousin or that green eyed messy haired kid in the eye again if I sold out my team mates; in this life or the next."

The freakish goblin merely sneered, having to wipe a trail of drool from his neck in the process. "A most wondrous speech. And yet only I to hear it. I assume by that kid you meant Harry Potter? Yes I have been informed of your apparent closeness. Perhaps I shall capture him and bring him here to watch you die. That should hurt the both of you."

"Go ahead." Tonks boasted, though praying they wouldn't. "He'll kick your ass."

"Potter is merely a runt waiting for me to snap its neck. Just a child and they have the gall to claim he beat me? Ha."

"Eh?" The Auror had picked up on the key points of that sentence and was a little confused. "Just who the hell are you?"

"I am the pinnacle of darkness, the fear that lies in words and the being that shall never die! I am Lord Voldemort!" The goblin, now claiming to be Voldemort, yelled with force. Far from having the desired effect of reducing this upstart Auror to tears, The Voldy-Goblin was dismayed to see she started laughing.

"That just makes it easier. He seems to have a knack for whipping your sorry butt every time you meet."

"We'll see just how s…" Pseudo-Mort was cut off when two young goblins burst through the doors. He drew a sword with his one good arm and cut off the head of the creature closest to him. The other halted, eyes wide.

"My Lord, we are under attack!"

"The Ministry?"

"No my Lord, the guards claim it is a man in a suit of armor. Sir, our weapons can not pierce him, he cuts through out forces like a scythe through wheat."

"Incompetent fools!" Pseudo-Mort cried, digging his sword into the messenger's stomach and twisting it upwards into his lungs. The young goblin squealed, gurgled and slumped to the floor, his life now a slow trickle from his chest.

"I'm afraid I have to deal with this, my dear," He directed at Tonks. "I'll let young Heinrich here deal with you." A man stepped from the shadows wearing Auror robes. Tonks recognized him as one of her squad mates and gasped. "Perhaps you were friends, perhaps you trusted him. Maybe you even harboured secret feelings. It will make this all the more painful for you." Pseudo-Mort sneered again and strode surprisingly gracefully from the room."

"Hello, Nympho…" Auror Heinrich Viskenson laughed at his own perceived joke. "I was hoping you'd refuse their offer... You laughed when I asked you out for a drink. Said never in a million years…"

"Well you've still good few to wait before you can ask again, haven't you." Tonks spat back.

"I'm not asking this time, oh no…" He leered at her, groping her chest as he got in range. "I'll just take what I want." He raised his wand to her throat. There was a flash and the distinct smell of time.

-/-

Harry wasn't having much luck. He was in the main hall of Gringotts but realized he had no idea where to go from there. Unfortunately, any goblins he tried to get answers from were less than helpful.

"Alright then Goblin number 396, hopefully you'll…" Harry paused in his interrogation as he recognized the goblin squirming in his grip. "Hey! Griphook? Long time no see. You were the goblin that took me down to my vault on my first visit here. Small world huh?"

The goblin, Griphook, stopped struggling for long enough to look at the winged man in the armour oddly. "You recognize me? Most wizards think we all look the same."

"I don't see why. Most of the goblins I've seen today have all looked different. I suppose most wizards see you as just inferior beings. Probably what caused this mess in the first place. Oh well, I'm afraid we must get on with it. Time waits for no man and very few wizards. Now then, Griphook, hopefully you'll be more accommodating that the 395 goblins before you. Where are the prisoners being held?"

"I will never betray the Goblin King!"

"That's what the others said. Don't suppose you'll tell me anything about this King of yours?"

"Never!"

"They said that too. Too bad." He noted before flinging the familiar goblin behind him, where it became a greenish grey splat on the wall. Harry looked around for a second before sighing and swiping his arm out again, knocking another dozen goblins off their feet and cooking them with a blaze of fire. He picked up a not quite dead one and began anew. "Goblin 397…"

"You must be our intruder. I must say I'm a little upset that it isn't Harry Potter. This seemed like the sort of thing he couldn't keep away from even if you buried it in Dragon manure." The origin of the commanding voice was quite possibly the ugliest creature Harry had ever seen. And he'd seen Ron eat custard with a fork.

"He saw your ugly mug and couldn't bear to look again." Harry replied, not about to give up his secret identity on his first outing. "I mean what happened, did the freak show say you were too gruesome so you wanted to take it out on the wizarding world. Though I must say you've probably improved goblin morale. Who else could make these creepy buggers look beautiful? But anyway, you're stuck with me."

"Indeed. Let's make this quick as I have a young Auror waiting for me to torture her."

"Tonks." Harry whispered before leaping at the monstrosity in the snappy suit. His first blow was parried and countered with a kick to his side that pushed him back a few feet. The remaining goblins in the Lobby formed a ring around the two, watching the fight unfold.

Though he may have managed to land a few hits, it was clear to Harry that things weren't going his way. Not only had he not properly practiced with his wings out, making his current movements slow and uncoordinated, but this Debauchery of Nature before him still managed to flow like a work of art. The Limp, the Hunch and the Withered Arm were all nowhere to be seen.

And his strength was unbelievable. The other hundreds of goblins hadn't even made a scratch in the Hogwarts Armour while using weapons but after only a few blows from this challenger, Harry's chest was being almost crushed by the now inward curving metal breastplate. And he could feel each hit shaking through every bone in his body. He spat out another curse as he was sent sliding across the floor, bowling over a few of the goblins that had been watching. The resulting blockage was enough to launch him into the air where he was struck by a sudden inspiration.

"I should have thought of this before." Harry muttered as he hovered just out of reach. Maneuvering easily around the frustrated freak below, Harry picked up another goblin and held him as a makeshift shield. The goblin in question squealed and hugged onto his assailants arm with as much strength as he could. "I just had to pick the one that was afraid of heights." Harry sighed. "Wait a minute…" Harry flew up into the highest point of the hall and juggled the goblin around a bit until it was hanging upside down by its leg. It squealed some more and begged to be taken back down.

"Where are the prisoners being held?"

"I can't…" The goblin groaned, split between betraying his king and a very uninviting looking fall. Harry let the goblin slip down a few inches quickly. "Alright! Alright… They're being kept in the feasting hall. At the end of the corridor directly to the left of the main desks."

"Thankyou." Harry answered before dropping the crying goblin to his death. It was probably the merciful thing to do. No one had heard the conversation and if they did find out he probably would have been tortured knowing how cruel goblins are. "Alright then." Harry descended once more and landed in front of the king. "How 'bout a break?" Harry asked before using his wings to propel him backwards, over the ring of goblins who now felt quite useless, and towards the corridor he needed.

The annoyingly graceful freak of nature followed with equal speed. It was almost as if it was toying with him, letting him think he was keeping the distance. Well, Harry decided, as long as it kept toying with him until he got where he wanted that would be fine.

Unfortunately, the supposed goblin clued on to where he was heading half way down the corridor and quickly caught up with him, bowling him over with a feral leap. This action was followed by a menacing swipe of its claw like hands that actually tore off part of Harry's helmet and cut a fairly deep line across the left side of his forehead. Harry responded with a burst of flame in front of his head, providing enough of a surprise for him to launch himself from beneath the Goblin King and away down the hallway. He was almost there.

But he could still here the swift footsteps gaining once more behind him. Bursting into the feasting hall, he was startled to find about a dozen or so wooden beams, all surrounded by burnt bits of rope. Where were the hostages? Did they escape when he had drawn the focus away? A regal looking door caught his eye and he charged though it, meeting an almost empty room. In the few seconds it took for Harry to work out what was going on, the Goblin kind had caught up. But fortunately he too was startled by what he saw in the room he had only left an hour ago.

The offensive girl was gone, more burnt rope in her place and the turncoat Auror was sitting up against the desk, very much dead, with too similarly sized triangles, touching at the points, burnt into his chest along with the number 1. He remembered why he was here and turned to the intruder just in time to see him producing an hour glass from Gork knows where and turning it around once.

-/-

Harry appeared in a rather less damaged meeting room with two other live occupants already there. One was Tonks kicking and screaming. The other was some Auror with a disgusting look on his face and his trousers just vacating the last leg.

"Urk!" Was the sound that first hinted to Tonks that she wasn't about to be raped. She hazarded an eye open and then opened the other when she saw someone in a suit of armour holding Viskenson by the neck. Then she noticed the wings flexing powerfully behind the man's back.

"Scum like you doesn't deserve a second chance." Harry ground out before feeling the fire burst from his tightening grip, roasting the man's neck and head. He dropped the man to the floor where it slumped against the desk. Turning to Tonks, he quickly set her loose and got his thoughts in order. "Are you alright, Ms. Tonks?" He asked formally, hoping she didn't recognize him

"Er… yeah. Probably. The others…"

"I will take care of it shortly ma'am." Harry led her put of the room before remembering something and burning a rather wonky looking hourglass into the dead Aurors chest, adding a one afterwards

"What are you doing?" Tonks asked the man, wondering why he was defacing the body, not that the creepy git didn't deserve it.

"Leaving clues for my past to follow." The figure replied ominously. Harry walked past her and freed the other tied up Aurors in a similar fashion to before.

"Who are you?" One of them asked, making Harry thankful that the cut on his head had bled enough to mask all colour from his showing hair and eye, even if it did sting like hell.

"Just a guy who couldn't stand by and watch anymore."

"Oh yeah?" One of them joked good naturedly. "And you just happed to have some wings handy for that effect?" Harry shrugged and a few of the others laughed with what could have been small glints of hysteria.

"We can't go out the front." Harry stated to the amassed group. "But if I remember rightly there's a skylight near the other end of the corridor out of here. We need to move quickly." The others dutifully followed. After all, without wands, many of them were pretty useless. They let the man in the armour fight any goblins they came across and he did so with ruthless efficiency, not letting any escape to raise an alarm.

"Up here." He told the other when he found a window in the ceiling that he could see the sky out of. He flew up and conjured a rope before letting it down so the others could climb up. The trip across the roof was filled with tense hope as the almost rescued Aurors half expected a dozen goblins to come pouring out of every window and skylight they passed.

Tonks of course managed to trip up on something and twisted her ankle so badly she had to have Harry carry her. She took the opportunity to pear at the gap in the helmet, sure there was a lot of blood that masked the hair colour and the eye colour but something unnervingly familiar struck her as she looked at the blood soaked fragment of face.

"Harry?" She whispered so no one else would hear. Harry just shifted her weight so he could lift a finger to where his lips would have been.

-/-

It made a marvelous picture, after the Aurors had climbed down from the roof on another conjured rope, Harry descended from the rooftops carrying Tonks who was snuggling up against his chest. His wings splayed out either side. A huge cheer came up from the assembled crowd and reporters surged forward for questions. Minister fudge saw a golden opportunity to push more manure from between his teeth.

"I would like to present the Ministries newest achievement!" He announced stepping into the funnel of attention Harry was receiving and forcing himself to be heard. "After its successful field test today, I am happy to announce that this remarkable figure you see before you is actually a state of the art Golem! Created by the Ministry for the safety of the public. You have asked what we are doing for you? I say we are making you safe!" Harry stared in utter disbelief at the brass that man was attempting to pull off. Tonks had even shifted around to make sure she heard right. "Now then Golem," Fudge addressed him with a look that clearly said 'play along and I'll make it worth your while'. "Please release Auror… The Auror in your arms and… report for analysis."

Harry was half stuck. He couldn't say anything to counter Fudge because someone could recognize his voice. That wouldn't go well no matter who it was. But he couldn't just comply. So instead he spread his wings and flew away with Tonks still in his arms. He flew away from the ministry building purposefully, heading in a possibly westerly direction.

"Where do you live, Tonks?"

-/-

A tall figure in a suit of armour landed through the window in the Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts School. His amber wings pulsed slowly behind him, working down from the long flight.

"Hello Harry."

"Luna?" Harry asked, pulling off the helmet. "How'd you know I'd be here?"

"The Nargles told me."

"Oh."

"And also, if I wanted to fly to London using a set of wings I wasn't supposed to have, I'd probably use the astronomy tower too." Luna said with a smile. "

"Ok, so why are you here?" Harry asked politely, "I was just about to…"

"I know. I had something very important to tell you, apparently."

"What is it?"

Luna cleared her throat and stretched her jaw, trying out an array of baritones before settling on a suitably ominous tone of voice. "The time for alliance is fast approaching, approach not the Non-president, for he will seek you, licking his wounds. Keep your friends close but watch for enemies in masks. And buy Luna a Slinky."

"Huh?"

"Did you get all that?"

"I think so."

"Good, having to repeat yourself attracts Hypoflies." Luna smiled before tapping the Time Turner around his neck. "You need to get back. There's a conversation I remember fondly and you should look forward to."

-/-

A/N: Tada! Another chapter up for you who wanted it. I like this chapter and yet I keep feeling the nagging sensation that something is wrong with it. I'd love to know what you think.

I also found my own version of purgatory. The Shinra building stairs in FF7. It was so repetitive! Why did I think sneaking in would be a good idea?

Oh and you'll pleased to know my mafia debt has been mostly dealt with. Now I just owe them my digital spleen. All is well. I am however at the point where I have a big gap between the important parts of the story and I don't know what to put in there.

I'll try and update soon.

Next time: Some talks and a date?


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